Playfulness in adults: an examination of play and playfulness and their implications for coaching

ABSTRACT

Play and playfulness have been seminal to human culture for millennia. Twentieth-century scientific enquiry was largely concerned with their evolutionary benefits, though humanistic psychology, and later positive psychology came to view them as attached to greater human values and meaning creation. Due to their myriad forms and manifestations, play and playfulness have been difficult to define and measure. This paper will explore the nature of these problematics. It will also highlight the most salient research concerning the benefits of play and playfulness, and the subsequent implications for coaching. Based on the latest literature, a definition of play and playfulness apposite to the coaching framework is offered, along with suggestions for future research directions.

KEYWORDS:

• Play
• playfulness
• positive psychology
• coaching
• evidence-based coaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Dr Renee D. Lockwood has published widely on subjects concerning the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and the corporate sphere. She is currently completing a Master of Science in Coaching Psychology at the University of Sydney, where she completed her Ph.D. in the school of Letters, Arts, and Media.

Dr Sean O’Connor is a Coaching practitioner, researcher, and academic within the fields of organisational change and development, positive psychology and leadership coaching. Sean holds Master’s degree in Coaching Psychology and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Sydney. His doctorate research identified the coaching ripple effect, the first ever research assessing the indirect impact of leadership coaching on the well-being of others in a system. Dr O’Connor is a Lecturer and Researcher within the Coaching Psychology Unit at the University of Sydney training, supervising and supporting hundreds of early career coaches. In practice, Sean brings an evidence-based analytical, collaborative, and solution-focused approach to helping others to develop, which is embedded in the context of complex systems. He has helped executives, senior leaders, and middle managers to develop and strengthen their leadership skills through individual, group and team coaching and facilitative training.

ORCID

Sean O’Connor http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0380-2733