During pandemic, playful people were remarkably resilient, OSU research shows

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

The study led by Xiangyou “Sharon” Shen of Oregon State University is important because playfulness is a vital but underappreciated resource for building resilience and maintaining well-being during difficult periods such as the pandemic, Shen said. And it’s a resource that individuals can cultivate.

“Understanding how playful people navigate adversity can inform interventions and strategies to help people cope with stress and uncertainty,” said Shen, an assistant professor in the OSU College of Forestry and the director of the Health, Environment and Leisure Research Lab, or HEAL. “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 can heighten stress and increase mental health diagnoses, the association says.

Shen and HEAL researcher Zoe Crawley 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.

“They 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,” said Shen, whose team developed the trait measurement scale in 2014. “They 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, Shen 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.”

Shen emphasizes 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.”

“Highly playful people were just as realistic about COVID-19 risks and challenges as others, but they excelled at ‘lemonading’ – creatively imagining and pursuing the positive, discovering ways to create moments of joy even in difficult circumstances,” she said.

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

Shen and Crawley saw COVID-19 as an opportunity to look for answers. With most of the population experiencing similar large-scale disruption, Shen said, the researchers 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,” Shen 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,” Shen 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.”

Shen adds, 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,” Shen said.

Reference:

Xiangyou Shen, Zoe CrawleyZoe Crawley, How does playfulness (re)frame the world? Evidence for selective cognitive and behavioral redirecting in times of adversity, Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1462980.