An update on the study of playfulness in adolescents: its relationship with academic performance,well-being,anxiety, and roles in bullying-type-situations

Playfulness is an individual differences variable at the trait-level. It describes the ability to experience or (re)frame everyday situations as stimulating, interesting, and/or entertaining. Playfulness in adolescents is understudied. We collected self-report data on four facets of playfulness (other-directed, lighthearted, intellectual, and whimsical) in two German-speaking samples of adolescents (N1 = 210, N2 = 270; age range 13–18 years). The facets correlated positively, but to varying degrees with life satisfaction (social life, self, friends) and intrinsic goals. There was no relationship with self-reported school grades and achievement goals (Sample 1). Playfulness in girls was associated with peer-nominated (classmates) bullying behaviors and victimization status (Sample 2). Overall, the findings show that playfulness has an impact on various domains of the life of adolescents. We discuss directions for further research in the field.