2012/02/21 by Lynn A. Barnett, Lynn Barnett · 36 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Big Five personality traits #Creativity in Education and Neuroscience #Developmental psychology #Ethnic group #Extraversion and introversion #Gender studies #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Personality #Personality Traits and Psychology #Psychology #Quality (philosophy) #Race (biology) #Social psychology #Sociology #Style (visual arts)
paper · doi:10.2190/ic.31.3.c
published in Imagination Cognition and Personality 31(3), 169-197 (SAGE Publishing)
crossref issued 2012/02/21 · crossref published 2012/02/21 · crossref published-online 2012/02/21 · openalex publication_date 2012/02/21 · crossref created 2012/02/22 · crossref published-print 2012/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/29 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
People who are playful are able to transform almost any situation into one that is amusing and entertaining by cognitively and imaginatively manipulating it in their mind. This investigation provides insight into the playfulness quality and its component factors, by delineating relationships with measures of personality, affective style, and motivational orientation for university students. Findings revealed that, overall, playfulness could be largely explained by the NEO personality dimensions, particularly extraversion, for both males and females, and beyond that, relationships differed by gender. Race/ethnicity also distinguished significant playfulness predictors, more so for females than males, and to a lesser extent than gender. The four playfulness components showed different relationships with the personality measures, and gender and race/ethnicity again played a role in some. The findings provide insight into the quality possessed by a number of people of playing in one's mind, with virtual disregard for the characteristics of the external environment.