In an August 2020 study, researchers at the Martin Luther King University in Germany had participants do simple exercises for a week to enhance their playfulness. They found this characteristic can be stimulated and trained. In addition, playfulness improves a person's overall emotional state.
Playfulness is a personality trait that is expressed in individuals differently. According to the head of the research, psychologist René Proyer, especially playful people find it difficult to cope with boredom. On the other hand, they can turn almost any everyday situation into a fun or personally engaging experience. For example, they enjoy word games and mental games, are curious or like to play.
In addition, previous studies have shown these people have a strong sense of detail, easily acquire new perspectives and are able to turn even monotonous tasks into interesting activities.
Previously it had not been clear whether playfulness could be trained and what effects it might have on people. The researchers therefore included 533 participants in their study, who were randomly divided into one of three experimental groups or a "placebo" group.
People in the experimental groups completed one of three daily exercises for seven days. The exercises were to strengthen their playfulness. Every evening before going to bed, they had either to write down three situations from a given day when they were behaving particularly playfully, or use their tendency to playfulness in an unfamiliar situation, such as their professional life, and write down this experience. Or they were to think more about the playful behaviour they had observed in themselves that day. In contrast, the placebo group was given a task that had no effect on the experiment.
All groups completed a questionnaire before and immediately one, two, four, and twelve weeks after the intervention; this enabled researchers to measure various personality traits. The methods were based on established positive psychology interventions.
According to the researchers, the exercises were supposed to lead people consciously to focus their attention on playfulness and use it more often. Based on their hypotheses, the exercises could lead to positive emotions, which in turn would affect a person's satisfaction and mood.
The results showed that the tasks did indeed lead to increased playfulness. The researchers also observed a temporary, slight improvement in participants' well-being. "Our study is the first intervention study in adults to show that playfulness can be induced and that it has positive effects for them," said Proyer.
The results of the study serve as a starting point for new research questions and practical applications. For example, at the workplace they could lead to increased innovation, creativity and greater satisfaction.
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