An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Playfulness and Well-being in Australian Adults: An Exploratory Study

Playfulness is well researched in children; however, much less is known about its impact on the well-being of adults. To investigate the relationship between playfulness and well-being in Australian adults. Participants ( N = 175) completed the Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical (OLIW) scale for playfulness and the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA-Profiler) scale for well-being through an online survey. Multiple regression analyses with bootstrapping were completed to investigate whether playfulness predicted well-being. Six of the eight regression models analyzed contained significant predictors of well-being in adults. Adult playfulness exhibited the most robust positive relations with positive emotion, engagement while with others and during activities, relationships, finding meaning in one’s life, and overall well-being. Playfulness was significantly related to several different indicators of well-being in adults. Therefore, incorporating elements of playfulness during occupational engagement could potentially nurture an individual’s well-being.