Adult playfulness and its relationship to humour , subjective happiness and depression : A comparative study of Hong Kong and Mainland China

Playfulness in adults has been shown to be beneficial to different aspects of well-being, but adult playfulness remains an understudied concept, especially in Chinese society. To address this gap in research, this study investigated adult playfulness and its relationship with humour, subjective happiness and depression among university students from Hong Kong and Guangdong. A total of 325 students were asked to complete a selfadministered questionnaire. The results revealed positive correlations between adult playfulness, sense of humour, adaptive humour styles, the importance of humour, self-humour and subjective happiness. A negative correlation between adult playfulness and self-rating depression was also found. Hierarchical regression analysis also showed that the two adaptive humour styles were strong predictors of adult playfulness. The relationship between adult playfulness and subjective happiness was mediated by adaptive humour styles, the importance of humour and mother’s humour, whereas the relationship between adult playfulness and depression was mediated by adaptive humour styles. This study provides initial details of Chinese playfulness and further confirms the value of playfulness in psychological well-being. Suggestions for future studies are also discussed. Introduction and Literature Review Play is an officially enlisted survival and development right for every child according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF, 2005). There is little doubt that play has a vital role in the process of human development, especially during childhood. Play research investigates play not merely as a pleasurable activity but also discusses the concept behind play, playfulness, which commonly involves a predisposition to engage in any activity in a more enjoyable manner (Barnett, 2007). Traditionally, children have been the focus of play and playfulness studies, with less attention being paid to adults. In recent decades, however, an increasing amount of evidence has accumulated and demonstrates the various positive impact that playfulness has on adults. Highly playful adults have been described as outgoing, humorous and happy (Barnett, 2007). Measurements of adult playfulness have shown to be positively Discovery – SS Student E-Journal Vol. 3, 2014, 105-141 106 related to indicators of both psychological and physical well-being (Proyer, 2013a) as well as a range of other beneficial outcome variables, such as creativity (Tegano, 1990) and academic achievement (Proyer, 2011). Despite those advantages, playfulness in adults surprisingly remains an understudied research area in psychology (Guitard, Ferland & Dutil, 2005; Proyer, 2012a), and related studies set in a Hong Kong or Chinese context in general are even rarer. This study therefore aims to provide details of Chinese adult playfulness, and to seek further evidence supporting the value of adult playfulness by investigating its relationship with humour, subjective happiness and depression among Hong Kong and Guangdong university students. Play and Playfulness in Children The benefits of play for children have been well-documented. When children are playing, they are interacting with the strange world around them without fear, learning to communicate with other people, building a physically healthy body and developing useful skills to cope with difficulties in life (Ginsburg, 2007). Decades of researches have demonstrated different forms of play activities to be positively related to a child’s language abilities (Fekonja, Umek & Kranjc, 2005; Lyytinen, Poikkeus & Laakso, 1997; Tamis-LeMonda & Bornstein, 1994), social competencies (Connolly & Doyle, 1984; Lindsey & Mize, 2000; Newton & Jenvey, 2011), emotional regulations (Lindsey & Colwell, 2013) and physical fitness (Pellegrini & Smith, 1998). Lloyd and Howe (2003) showed that the experience of solitary play is related to the ability to think divergently and, in turn, could facilitate children’s coping ability under stressful situations (Christiano & Russ, 1996). Not many would argue against the fact that play has the capacity to foster a child’s normal development, and in fact, it also has the ability to prevent and improve psychological, behavioural and physical problems (Reddy, Files-Hall & Schaefer, 2005). For instance, play-based intervention has found effective in reducing hospital fears (Rae, Worchel, Upchurch, Sanner & Daniel, 1989), darkness phobia (Santacruz, Mendez & Sanchez-Meca, 2006), separation anxiety (Barnett, 1984) and aggressive behavior (Ray, Blanco, Sullivan, & Holliman, 2009). The research mentioned above approaches play in terms of behaviours or action, others argue that it is more important to investigate the characteristic personality of players playfulness, which makes play possible. Playfulness in young children is widely defined as an internal disposition that allows a child to transform any activity into play (Guitard et al., 2005). This is based on the assumption that the child must perceive an activity as play first before they can actually play. Playfulness gives children the capacity to see a situation or activity as fun and enjoyable, and therefore, play occurs. Although the existence of playfulness is acknowledged, the qualities constituting playfulness in children are different according to different authors. Lieberman (1965) was one of the pioneers of studying playfulness in a group of kindergartners, and she Discovery – SS Student E-Journal Vol. 3, 2014, 105-141 107 identified five key qualities of playfulness: 1) physical spontaneity how well a child coordinates and moves their body to play; 2) social spontaneity how a child interacts with others during play; 3) cognitive spontaneity how well a child is able to use their imagination and creativity in play; 4) manifest joy – the child’s expressions of enjoyment during play; and 5) sense of humour the generation and appreciation of funny stories or jokes. Barnett (1990) agreed with the inclusion of those five qualities and developed a valid and reliable measure (the Children’s Playfulness Scale) for a child’s playfulness. Others have proposed different but similar components to develop other measurements. For instance, Ferland (1997) included spontaneity, curiosity, challenge, initiative, pleasure and a sense of humour in her assessment of playfulness. Although components differ between authors, pleasure and spontaneity have been consistently suggested as contributing to playfulness in children, and a sense of humour and imagination have also been frequently mentioned (Guitard et al., 2005). Despite the variations in what underlies playfulness in children, the validated measurements of children’s playfulness have been found positively related to a child’s well-being and healthy development. Playfulness allows a child to more easily perceive an activity as play, and it has been revealed that perceiving an activity as play is linked to an enhancement in emotional well-being (Howard & McInnes, 2013). Children with high playfulness have been shown to have higher divergent thinking abilities (Lieberman, 1965), more adaptive coping behaviours (Saunders, Sayer & Goodale, 1999), and a confident and imaginative personality (Barnett, 1991). With such evidence showing the positive impact that play and playfulness have on children, one may wonder what becomes of play and playfulness for adults. Does the power of playfulness just disappear when a person gets older? Playfulness in Adults Research focusing on playfulness in adults is limited. Perhaps this is partially due to the notion that play is a child’s occupation (Parham & Primeau, 1997). Indeed, “an adult who plays” does not seem to fit our expectations of play as well as “a child who plays” does. It has been suggested that social displays of playfulness (or play in general) are more acceptable for children than adults (Lieberman, 1977). In terms of playfulness, however, it is believed to be rooted in our personality (Bozionelos & Bozionelos, 1999; Glynn & Webster, 1992) and to be relatively stable across time (Lieberman, 1977; O'Brien & Shirley, 2001; Proyer, 2013b). As a personality trait, playfulness is likely to exert its influence in a person’s life beyond childhood and one can expect similarities between children and adult playfulness. Solnit (1998) argued that as people grow older, they give up most of their play activities from childhood and convert these activities into a playful attitude, playfulness. Recently, Proyer (2013b) found that playfulness existed in all age groups and demonstrated a strong relationship with a list of well-being indicators. Still, adult playfulness remains an understudied field in psychology; further investigation of Discovery – SS Student E-Journal Vol. 3, 2014, 105-141 108 the meaning of playfulness among adults is warranted (Barnett, 2007). Conceptualising and Defining Adult Playfulness As with children’s playfulness, there is a lack of consensus when it comes to conceptualising adult playfulness, due to the diversity of related characteristics (Shen, Chick & Zinn, 2014). Barnett (2007) conducted a study with undergraduate focus groups and identified some common qualities between adult and children’s playfulness. Spontaneity and cheerfulness were found to be descriptors for both children and adult playfulness, but impulsiveness has been suggested as the only component shared by the two (Barnett, 2007). In another study, Guitard and associates (2005) found that adult playfulness corresponds greatly to that of children, as it consists of creativity (seen as a manifestation of imagination), curiosity, sense of humour, pleasure and spontaneity, and Glynn and Webster (1992) suggested that expressiveness, fun and silliness were components of adult playfulness. In spite of differences in the components that underlie adult playfulness, its general idea remains consistent across different studies and authors. Adult playfulness is commonly ag