Assessing Other-Directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical Playfulness in Adults

Abstract

Abstract. Adult playfulness is an individual differences variable that allows people to (re-)frame everyday situations in a way to make them entertaining, stimulating, and/or interesting. Recently, a structural model with four facets (i.e., Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical; OLIW) and a subjective measure with 28 items have been developed. The main aim of this study is to test a 12-item short form (OLIW-S). In Study 1, we retrieved the 4-factorial OLIW structure in three independently collected samples ( N = 1,168; 696 self-ratings and 166 dyads providing reciprocal self- and peer-ratings). We found satisfactory psychometric properties for research purposes, and there was convergent and nomological validity with external measures of playfulness and the Big Five personality traits. Data from Sample 3 showed robust self-other agreement in all facets (.27–.52). In Study 2, N = 463 adults completed the OLIW-S and a measure for personality pathology (PID-5; shared variance 12–31%). A principal component analysis of the OLIW-S and PID-5 scales yielded two unique factors representing playfulness and personality pathology. Overall, our expectations were widely met and the OLIW-facets could be well located in comprehensive systems of both personality and personality pathology. Applications of the OLIW-S (e.g., large-scale assessments; zero-acquaintance studies) are discussed.

Testing the Associations Between Adult Playfulness and Sensation Seeking: A SEM Analysis of Librarians and Police Officers

“…First, this is in stark contrast to Zuckerman (1994), who found strong correlations between the hedonic-oriented Need for Play scale (Jackson, 1974) and the SSS facet Disinhibition. However, this is in line with prior findings about the independence (Otherdirected and Intellectual playfulness) or negligible overlap with the Disinhibition domain of Krueger et al's (2012) personality inventory of maladaptive personality traits (Proyer et al, 2020). Second, this pattern fits well into laypeople's notions of playfulness, i.e., providing a means to explore new situations and preventing routine (e.g., Barnett, 2007;Proyer, 2014), and lends evidence to the notion of playfulness and SS sharing inclinations to exploration.…”

“…Moreover, there is evidence that playfulness goes along with cognitive, social, and behavioral spontaneity, inclinations to impulsivity, and thinking styles that are denoted by novelty and low planning (e.g., Lieberman, 1977;Proyer, 2017;Proyer et al, 2019b). In line with such findings, the localization of the OLIW facets in a classification system of maladaptive personality traits (PID-5; Krueger et al, 2012) showed that Whimsical playfulness is related robustly to the Disinhibition domain, which is, among others, characterized by risk-taking (Proyer et al, 2020). Playfulness relates to exploration behaviors among humans and animals (e.g., Weisler and McCall, 1976;Lieberman, 1977;Panksepp, 1998;Shen, 2020), and Singer and Rummo (1973) found that children's playfulness is positively related to behaviors coded as novelty seeking/curiosity.…”

“…This definition is accompanied by a multidimensional structural model of adult playfulness: the OLIW model, which consists of Other-directed (e.g., using playfulness in social situations to solve tension), Lighthearted (e.g., a spontaneous view of life without thinking much of consequences of the behavior; liking improvising over planning), Intellectual (e.g., enjoying play with new ideas and come up with new solutions for intellectual problems), and Whimsical playfulness (e.g., preferring odd or extraordinary things or people; Proyer, 2017). The OLIW facets show good observability in interpersonal perception studies testing the self-other agreement and consensus among observers (e.g., Proyer, 2017;Proyer and Brauer, 2018), and relate to numerous outcomes such as subjective well-being, mental and physical health (e.g., Proyer et al, 2018b;Farley et al, 2020), personality pathology (e.g., Proyer et al, 2020), and domains of romantic life [e.g., assortative mating, relationship satisfaction in actors and partners, or sexual role play; see e.g., Chick, 2001;Aune and Wong, 2002;Chick et al, 2012;Turley et al, 2017;Proyer et al, 2018aProyer et al, , 2019a; for an overview, see Brauer et al (2021)]. The associations and overlap between playfulness and preferences in seeking stimulation by means of novel experiences have been discussed in the literature (e.g., Zuckerman, 1991Zuckerman, , 1994Panksepp, 1998;Zaleskiwicz, 2001), but its relationship with SS is not yet understood; our study aims to narrow this gap in the literature.…”

“…We expect that the inclusion of peer ratings or diary data would contribute to reducing the shared method variance (Campbell and Fiske, 1959) and provide incremental insight into the tested associations [see Proyer (2017) and Proyer et al (2020)]. As prior studies indicated that playfulness and SS can be accurately perceived by others (e.g., peers), we expect incremental information by using other ratings (Angleitner et al, 2004;Proyer and Brauer, 2018;Proyer et al, 2020). Therefore, a replication of the MI analyses on the basis of peer ratings is desirable to crossvalidate our findings across methods.…”

Revisiting Adult Playfulness and Relationship Satisfaction: APIM Analyses of Middle-Aged and Older Couples

“…When testing their overlap with broad personality traits such as the Big Five, there is the expected overlap but no redundancy (e.g., Proyer, 2012Proyer, , 2017. Studies using the OLIW model have shown the differential associations between the four facets with numerous outcomes such as subjective well-being, mental and physical health (e.g., Farley et al, 2021;Proyer, 2014b;Proyer et al, 2018bProyer et al, , 2020, sensation seeking (Brauer et al, 2021b), and creative thinking styles (e.g., Proyer et al, 2019b) to name but a few.…”