During pandemic, playful people were remarkably resilient

Adults with high levels of playfulness showed strong resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to less playful individuals, new research shows.

The study is important because playfulness is a vital but underappreciated resource for building resilience and maintaining wellbeing during difficult periods such as the pandemic, and it’s a resource that individuals can cultivate.

What the researchers say: “Understanding how playful people navigate adversity can inform interventions and strategies to help people cope with stress and uncertainty,” said the lead author of the study. “This is particularly relevant as we face increasing global challenges that require both realistic assessment and creative adaptation.”

Chronic stress is a significant public health concern in the United States, according to the American Psychological Association. It’s linked to health problems ranging from heart disease and diabetes to depression and anxiety, and the long-term effects of chronic stress have the potential to strain the U.S. health care system.

Factors like the pandemic, economic uncertainty and social issues, such as a new and openly autocratic government, can heighten stress and increase mental health diagnoses, the association says.

The researchers broke a study group of more than 500 adults from the U.S. into two subgroups: those with higher levels of playfulness as measured by the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale, and those with lower levels of playfulness.

“Participants shared similar perceptions of risk and protective factors as their less playful peers, but demonstrated greater optimism when envisioning future possibilities, engaged in more creative problem solving and managed to infuse quality and enjoyment into everyday activities,” the researchers explained. “The playful group actively altered challenging situations, found creative substitutes for what was lost, viewed obstacles as opportunities for growth and maintained a strong sense of control over their responses.”

Perhaps most revealing, the lead author added, was that while the highly playful didn’t necessarily do different activities or do them more often than less playful people, they experienced the activities with higher quality – greater immersion, activeness and positive affect.

“This is essentially making lemonade from lemons, and it’s connected intimately with resilience,” she said. “Their unique combination of realistic assessment and flexible problem solving emerged as a powerful formula, offering a vivid demonstration of how personality traits like playfulness shape our responses under stress.”

She emphasized that playful people don’t view the world through “rose-colored glasses” but rather with the ability to see upside while maintaining “clear-eyed realism.”

While researchers have long claimed that playful people “reframe” situations to make them more enjoyable, that widely accepted idea had been “surprisingly vague and untested.” It was unclear exactly what the reframing was or how it works.

The current researchers saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to look for answers. With most of the population experiencing similar large-scale disruption, current teams were able to move beyond assumptions and determine the specific ways playfulness helps people navigate tough times.

“Playfulness doesn’t distort reality – it enhances it,” the lead author said. “And while our study focused on measuring rather than developing playfulness, research suggests several approaches to cultivate this quality.”

Those approaches include:

• Engaging in activities that spark joy and curiosity

• Being open to new experiences, including experimenting with new ways of doing routine activities

• Creating opportunities for spontaneous, unstructured exploration

• Hanging out with people who make you laugh and inspire you to play

• Embracing moments of silliness and humor when appropriate

“Of course, interpretation of appropriateness may vary, and knowing boundaries makes playing with them more fun,” the authors said. “A key to all of this is focusing on the quality of engagement rather than simply doing what might be called play activities. True playfulness doesn’t require a playground, games or toys. It’s about bringing a spirit of openness, flexibility and fun to everyday moments.”

They add, though, that regularly setting aside time for play can be instrumental as it provides a safe space to express and practice playfulness.

“Even during hectic times, dedicating five to 10 minutes daily for a small dose of play – whether solo or shared – can make a meaningful difference,” they said.

My take: Many studies (several of them reported in TR) have shown that humans are designed to have fun. We do better at almost any activity if we are enjoying the process of doing it and if that activity is voluntary. This, of course, includes work.

Unsurprisingly, humans get most pleasure from doing things which involve socializing with those that we feel are supportive of us. Playfulness is a demonstration of that relationship.

In too many work situations, the emphasis is on achieving goals or targets, something that humans are not designed for.

Doing that which goes against our design specs adds to our stress level and anxiety, and can be a cause of depression and even dementia.

Yet if work can be seen as play, and enjoyed, then the targets and goals will be met because the teams created to meet those goals and hit those targets will be higher performing and therefore much, much more likely to succeed.