CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 77Personality Traits and PsychologyPhysical Activity and HealthRecreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management

The Positive Relationships of Playfulness With Indicators of Health, Activity, and Physical Fitness

Open access
Proyer, René T., Gander, Fabian, Bertenshaw, Emma J., Brauer, Kay·2018·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01440PMC PMC6102740
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Adult playfulness is a personality trait that enables people to frame or reframe everyday situations in such a way that they experience them as entertaining, intellectually stimulating, or personally interesting. Earlier research supports the notion that playfulness is associated with the pursuit of an active way of life. While playful children are typically described as being active, only limited knowledge exists on whether playfulness in adults is also associated with physical activity. Additionally, existing literature has not considered different facets of playfulness, but only global playfulness. Therefore, we employed a multifaceted model that allows distinguishing among Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical playfulness. For narrowing this gap in the literature, we conducted two studies addressing the associations of playfulness with health, activity, and fitness. The main aim of Study 1 was a comparison of self-ratings (N = 529) and ratings from knowledgeable others (N = 141). We tested the association of self- and peer-reported playfulness with self- and peer-reported physical activity, fitness, and health behaviors. There was a good convergence of playfulness among self- and peer-ratings (between r = .46 and .55, all p < .001). Data show that both self- and peer-ratings are differentially associated with physical activity, fitness, and health behaviors. For example, self-rated playfulness shared 3% of the variance with self-rated physical fitness and 14% with the pursuit of an active way of life. Study 2 provides data on the association between self-rated playfulness and objective measures of physical fitness (i.e., hand and forearm strength, lower body muscular strength and endurance, cardio-respiratory fitness, back and leg flexibility, and hand and finger dexterity) using a sample of N = 67 adults. Self-rated playfulness was associated with lower baseline and activity (climbing stairs) heart rate and faster recovery heart rate (correlation coefficients were between -.19 and -.24 for global playfulness). Overall, Study 2 supported the findings of Study 1 by showing positive associations of playfulness with objective indicators of physical fitness (primarily cardio-respiratory fitness). The findings represent an important starting point for future studies on the relationships between playfulness, and health, activity, and physical fitness.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01440

Cites

11 of 11 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In adult relationships, playfulness is associated with greater relationship satisfaction, perceived partner responsiveness, and more constructive conflict management.

    “In adult relationships, playfulness has been associated with greater relationship satisfaction, perceived partner responsiveness, and more constructive conflict management (Brauer et al., 2024;Proyer, 2012Proyer, , 2014aProyer, , 2017;;Proyer & Brauer, 2018).”

    From Childhood and Adult Playfulness: Links with Well-Being and Interpersonal Relationships (2026) · cites this paper as Proyer & Brauer, 2018

    The Introduction (page unavailable) describes playful adults as capable of using playfulness to resolve tension in social interactions, which offers limited support for the conflict-management part. It does not report an association with constructive conflict management in adult relationships, or with relationship satisfaction or perceived partner responsiveness. Study 1 discusses romantic partners as raters of playfulness, not as evidence for those outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In adults, playfulness is linked to higher life satisfaction, greater positive affect, better adaptability, lower depressive symptoms, and more effective stress coping.

    “In adults, playfulness has been linked to higher life satisfaction, greater positive affect, better adaptability, lower depressive symptoms, and more effective stress coping (Proyer, 2014b(Proyer, , 2017;;Proyer et al., 2018;Shen et al., 2017;Van Vleet & Feeney, 2015).”

    From Childhood and Adult Playfulness: Links with Well-Being and Interpersonal Relationships (2026) · cites this paper as Proyer et al., 2018

    The Introduction links adult playfulness to subjective well-being and coping, and the Study 2 discussion reports a relationship with positive emotions. But the discussion presents adaptability as a possibility needing further investigation, while the passages do not establish higher life satisfaction specifically or lower depressive symptoms. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 60

  1. ACSM (2001). ACSM's Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
  2. Ajzen I. (1985). From intentions to actions: a theory of planned behavior, in Action-control: From Cognition to Behavior, eds Kuhl J. Beckman J. (Heidelberg: Springer), 11– 39.
  3. Ajzen I. (2011). The theory of planned behaviour: reactions and reflections. Psychol. Health 26, 1113– 1127. 10.1080/08870446.2011.613995 21929476 · DOI
  4. Allen M. S. Magee C. A. Vella S. A. Laborde S. (2017). Bidirectional associations between personality and physical activity in adulthood. Health Psychol. 36, 332– 336. 10.1037/hea0000371 27089456 · DOI
  5. Amabile T. M. Hill K. G. Hennessey B. A. Tighe E. M. (1994). The work preference inventory: assessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 66, 950– 967. 10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.950 8014837 · DOI
  6. Barnett L. A. (2007). The nature of playfulness in young adults. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 43, 949– 958. 10.1016/j.paid.2007.02.018 · DOI · Paper page
  7. Barnett L. A. (2011). How do playful people play? gendered and racial leisure perspectives, motives and preferences of college students. Leisure Sci. 33, 382– 401. 10.1080/01490400.2011.606777 · DOI · Paper page
  8. Bateson P. Martin P. (2013). Play, playfulness, creativity, and innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  9. Bohannon R. W. (1998). Hand-grip dynamometry provides a valid indication of upper extremity strength impairment in home care patients. J. Hand Ther. 11, 258– 260. 10.1016/S0894-1130(98)80021-5 9862263 · DOI
  10. Boreham C. A. G. Wallace W. F. M. Nevill A. (2000). Training effects of accumulated daily stair-climbing exercise in previously sedentary young women. Prev. Med. 30, 277– 281. 10.1006/pmed.2000.0634 10731455 · DOI
  11. Borkenau P. Liebler A. (1992). Trait inferences: sources of validity at zero-acquaintance. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 62, 645– 657. 10.1037/0022-3514.62.4.645 · DOI
  12. Bös K. Abel T. Woll A. Niemann S. Tittlbach S. Schott N. (2002). Der fragebogen zur erfassung des motorischen funktionsstatus (FFB-Mot) [The Physical Fitness Questionnaire (FFB-Mot)]. Diagnostica 48, 101– 111. 10.1026/0012-1924.48.2.101 · DOI
  13. Brauer K. Proyer R. T. (2017). Are Impostors playful? testing the association of adult playfulness with the impostor phenomenon. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 116, 57– 62. 10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.029 · DOI
  14. Cameron D. S. Bertenshaw E. J. Sheeran P. (2015). The impact of positive affect on health cognitions and behaviours: a meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Health Psychol. Rev. 9, 345– 365. 10.1080/17437199.2014.923164 27028049 · DOI
  15. Cameron D. S. Bertenshaw E. J. Sheeran P. (2017). Positive affect and physical activity: Testing effects on goal setting, activation, prioritisation, and attainment. Psychol. Health 33, 1– 17. 10.1080/08870446.2017.1314477 28436287 · DOI
  16. Campbell D. T. Fiske D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychol. Bull. 56, 81– 105. 10.1037/h0046016 13634291 · DOI · Paper page
  17. Craig C. L. Marshall A. L. Sjöström M. Bauman A. E. Booth M. L. Ainsworth B. E.. (2003). International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 35, 1381– 1395. 10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB 12900694 · DOI · Paper page
  18. Csikszentmihalyi M. (1975). Play and intrinsic rewards. J. Hum. Psychol. 15, 41– 63. 10.1177/002216787501500306 · DOI
  19. Fredrickson B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Rev. Gen. Psychol. 2, 300– 319. 21850154 PMC3156001
  20. Fredrickson B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions: the emerging science of positive psychology is coming to understand why it's good to feel good. Am. Sci. 91, 330– 335. 10.1511/2003.4.330 · DOI · Paper page
  21. Funder D. C. Kolar D. C. Blackman M. C. (1995). Agreement among judges of personality: interpersonal relations, similarity, and acquaintanceship. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 69, 656– 672. 10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.656 7473024 · DOI
  22. Glynn M. A. Webster J. (1992). The adult playfulness scale: an initial assessment. Psychol. Rep. 71, 83– 103. 10.2466/pr0.1992.71.1.83 · DOI · Paper page
  23. Gottfredson L. S. Deary I. J. (2004). Intelligence predicts health and longevity, but why? Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 13, 1– 4. 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01301001.x · DOI
  24. Idler E. L. Benyamini Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. J. Health Soc. Behav. 38, 21– 37. 10.2307/2955359 9097506 · DOI · Paper page
  25. Kubzansky L. D. Martin L. T. Buka S. L. (2009). Early manifestations of personality and adult health: a life course perspective. Health Psychol. 28, 364– 372. 10.1037/a0014428 19450043 · DOI
  26. Lieberman J. N. (1977). Playfulness: Its Relationship to Imagination and Creativity. New York, NY: Academic Press.
  27. Magnuson C. D. Barnett L. A. (2013). The playful advantage: how playfulness enhances coping with stress. Leis. Sci. 35, 129– 144. 10.1080/01490400.2013.761905 · DOI · Paper page
  28. Mayorga-Vega D. Merino-Marban R. Viciana J. (2014). Criterion-related validity of sit-and-reach tests for estimating hamstring and lumbar extensibility: a meta-analysis. J. Sports Sci. Med. 13, 1– 14. 24570599 PMC3918544
  29. Miilunpalo S. Vuori I. Oja P. Pasanen M. Urponen H. (1997). Self-rated health status as a health measure: the predictive value of self-reported health status on the use of physician services and on mortality in the working-age population. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 50, 517– 528. 10.1016/S0895-4356(97)00045-0 9180644 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Murray H. A. (1938). Explorations in Personality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  31. Ortner T. M. Proyer R. T. (2018). Behavioral and performance measures of personality, in Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, eds Zeigler-Hill V. Shackelford T. K. (Cham: Springer). 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1281-1 · DOI
  32. Panksepp J. (1993). Rough and tumble play: a fundamental brain process, in SUNY Series, Children's Play in Society. Parent–child Play: Descriptions and Implications, ed MacDonald K. (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press), 147– 184.
  33. Proyer R. T. (2011). Being playful and smart? the relations of adult playfulness with psychometric and self-estimated intelligence and academic performance. Learn Indiv. Differ. 21, 463– 467. 10.1016/j.lindif.2011.02.003 · DOI
  34. Proyer R. T. (2012a). Development and initial assessment of a short measure for adult playfulness: the SMAP. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 53, 989– 994. 10.1016/j.paid.2012.07.018 · DOI
  35. Proyer R. T. (2013). The well-being of playful adults: adult playfulness, subjective well-being, physical well-being, and the pursuit of enjoyable activities. Eur. J. Humor Res. 1, 84– 98. 10.7592/EJHR2013.1.1.proyer · DOI
  36. Proyer R. T. (2014a). Perceived functions of playfulness in adults: does it mobilize you at work, rest, and when being with others? Eur. Rev. Appl. Psychol. 64, 241– 250. 10.1016/j.erap.2014.06.001 · DOI
  37. Proyer R. T. (2014b). Playfulness over the lifespan and its relation to happiness. Z. Gerontol. Geriat. 47, 508– 512. 10.1007/s00391-013-0539-z 23982439 · DOI
  38. Proyer R. T. (2017). A new structural model for the study of adult playfulness: assessment and exploration of an understudied individual differences variable. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 108, 113– 122. 10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.011 · DOI
  39. Proyer R. T. (2018). Playfulness and humor in psychology: an overview and update. Humor 31, 259– 271. 10.1515/humor-2016-0080 · DOI
  40. Proyer R. T. Brauer K. (2018). Exploring adult playfulness: examining the accuracy of personality judgments at zero-acquaintance and an LIWC analysis of textual information. J. Res. Pers. 73, 12– 20. 10.1016/j.jrp.2017.10.002 · DOI
  41. Proyer R. T. Gander F. Wellenzohn S. Ruch W. (2013). What good are character strengths beyond subjective well-being? the contribution of the good character on self-reported health-oriented behavior, physical fitness, and the subjective health status. J. Posit. Psychol. 8, 222– 232. 10.1080/17439760.2013.777767 · DOI
  42. Proyer R. T. Jehle N. (2013). The basic components of adult playfulness and their relation with personality: the hierarchical factor structure of seventeen instruments. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 55, 811– 816. 10.1016/j.paid.2013.07.010 · DOI
  43. Proyer R. T. Rodden F. A. (2013). Is the Homo Ludens cheerful and serious at the same time? an empirical study of hugo rahner's notion of ernstheiterkeit. Arch. Psychol. Relig. 35, 213– 231. 10.1163/15736121-12341262 · DOI
  44. Proyer R. T. Tandler N. Brauer K. (2018b). Playfulness and creativity: a selective review, in Creativity and Humor, eds Luria S. R. Baer J. Kaufman J. C. (San Diego, CA: Academic Press).
  45. Rhodes R. E. Courneya K. S. Jones L. W. (2005). The theory of planned behavior and lower-order personality traits: interaction effects in the exercise domain. Pers. Indiv. Diff. 38, 251– 265. 10.1016/j.paid.2004.04.005 · DOI
  46. Rhodes R. E. Smith N. E. I. (2006). Personality correlates of physical activity: a review and meta-analysis. Br. J. Sports Med. 40, 958– 965. 10.1136/bjsm.2006.028860 17124108 PMC2577457 · DOI
  47. Ritchie C. Trost S. Brown W. Armit C. (2005). Reliability and validity of physical fitness field tests for adults aged 55 to 70 years. J. Sci. Med. Sport 8, 61– 70. 10.1016/S1440-2440(05)80025-8 15887902 · DOI
  48. Rogers C. S. Meeks A. M. Impara J. C. Frary R. (1987). Measuring playfulness: development of the child behaviors inventory of playfulness, in Paper presented at the Southwest Conference on Human Development (New Orleans, LA).
  49. Staempfli M. B. (2007). Adolescent playfulness, stress perception, coping and well-being. J. Leis. Res. 39, 393– 412. 10.1080/00222216.2007.11950114 · DOI
  50. Strassmann A. Steurer-Stey C. Lana K. D. Zoller M. Turk A. J. Suter P.. (2013). Population-based reference values for the 1-min sit-to-stand test. Int. J. Public Health 58, 949– 953. 10.1007/s00038-013-0504-z 23974352 · DOI
  51. Vazire S. Mehl M. R. (2008). Knowing me, knowing you: the accuracy and unique predictive validity of self-ratings and other-ratings of daily behavior. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 95, 1202– 1216. 10.1037/a0013314 18954202 · DOI · Paper page
  52. Vo P. T. Bogg T. (2015). Testing theory of planned behavior and neo-socioanalytic theory models of trait activity, industriousness, exercise social cognitions, exercise intentions, and physical activity in a representative U.S. sample. Front. Psychol. 6: 1114. 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01114 26300811 PMC4526790 · DOI
  53. Wang R. Blackburn G. Desai M. Phelan D. Gillinov L. Houghtaling P.. (2017). Accuracy of wrist-worn heart rate monitors. JAMA Cardiol. 2, 104– 106. 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.3340 27732703 · DOI · Paper page
  54. Wanner M. Probst-Hensch N. Kriemler S. Meier F. Autenrieth C. Martin B. W. (2016). Validation of the long international physical activity questionnaire: influence of age and language region. Prev. Med. Rep. 3, 250– 256. 10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.03.003 27419023 PMC4929234 · DOI
  55. Watson D. Hubbard B. Wiese D. (2000). Self-other agreement in personality and affectivity: the role of acquaintanceship, trait visibility, and assumed similarity. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 78, 546– 558. 10.1037/0022-3514.78.3.546 10743880 · DOI
  56. Wells K. F. Dillon E. K. (1952). the sit and reach—a test of back and leg flexibility. R. Q. Exerc. Sport 23, 115– 118. 10.1080/10671188.1952.10761965 · DOI
  57. Wiebe D. J. Smith T. W. (1997). Personality and health: progress and problems in psychosomatics, in Handbook of personality psychology, eds Hogan R. Johnson J. A. Briggs S. R. (San Diego, CA: Academic Press), 891– 918.
  58. Wiesmann U. Timm A. Hannich H.-J. (2003). Multiples Gesundheitsverhalten und Vulnerabilität im Geschlechtervergleich [A gender comparison of multiple health behavior and vulnerability]. Z. Gesundh. 11, 153– 162. 10.1026/0943-8149.11.4.153 · DOI
  59. Yang C. Y. Boen C. Gerken K. Li T. Schorpp K. Harris K. M. (2016). Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 578– 583. 10.1073/pnas.1511085112 26729882 PMC4725506 · DOI · Paper page
  60. Yu P. Wu J.-J. Chen I.-H. Lin Y.-T. (2007). Is playfulness a benefit to work? empirical evidence of professionals in Taiwan. Int. J. Technol. Manag. 39, 412– 429. 10.1504/IJTM.2007.013503 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Bertenshaw, E. J., & Brauer, K.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Unilever (United Kingdom) (GB)
  • Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE)
Corresponding author
Proyer, René T.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-08-14
Volume
9
Pages
1440-1440
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01440
PMC
PMC6102740
OpenAlex
W2885293075
Cited by
77
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5
FWCI
5.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management
Keywords
playfulness, physical activity, physical fitness, health behavior, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and endurance, flexibility, dexterity, heart rate, adults

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review