Play and optimal welfare: Does play indicate the presence of positive affective states?
Abstract
Play is commonly used to assess affective states in both humans and non-human animals. Play appears to be most common when animals are well-fed and not under any direct threats to fitness. Could play and playfulness therefore indicate pre-existing positive emotions, and thence optimal animal welfare? We examine this question by surveying the internal and external conditions that promote or suppress play in a variety of species, starting with humans. We find that negative affective states and poor welfare usually do suppress play (although there are notable exceptions where the opposite occurs). Furthermore, research in children suggests that beyond the frequency or total duration of play, poor welfare may additionally be reflected in qualitative aspects of this heterogeneous behaviour (e.g. display of solitary over social play; and the 'fragmentation' of play bouts) that are often overlooked in animals. There are surprisingly few studies of play in subjects with pre-existing optimal welfare or in unambiguously highly positive affective states, making it currently impossible to determine whether play can distinguish optimal or good welfare from merely neutral welfare. This therefore represents an important and exciting area for future research.
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Rats were habituated to handling and the experimental recording arena to lessen anxiety or fear due to novelty.
“The rats were habituated to handling and the experimental recording arena, to lessen any anxiety or fear due to novelty, as negative affective states inhibit play behaviour (reviewed in Ahloy-Dallaire et al., 2018).”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as Ahloy-Dallaire et al., 2018
Negative affective states inhibit play behaviour.
“The rats were habituated to handling and the experimental recording arena, to lessen any anxiety or fear due to novelty, as negative affective states inhibit play behaviour (reviewed in Ahloy-Dallaire et al., 2018).”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as Ahloy-Dallaire et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Ahloy-Dallaire, J., Espinosa, J., & Mason, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- University of Guelph (CA)
- Venue
- Behavioural Processes
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 156
- Pages
- 3-15
- ISSN
- 0376-6357 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2770033323
- Cited by
- 200
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 8
- FWCI
- 2.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behavioural Processes (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Corpus Université Laval (Université Laval) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Keywords
- play behavior, animal welfare, positive affective states, playfulness, negative affect, welfare analysis, children's play, non-human animals
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Animals, Animal Welfare, Behavior, Animal, Health, Humans, Play and Playthings
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