Playfulness in Adulthood as a Personality Trait A Reconceptualization and a New Measurement

This research is part of a larger effort that integrates advances from personality research and playfulness research to develop a valid and reliable measurement of adult playfulness. We proposed a latent network trait conceptualization that focuses on the interconnected cognitive qualities central to playfulness, strictly distinguished from their state manifestations and personality correlates. A sequential multistudy design involving focus groups, expert review, conceptual back-translation, and survey studies was employed to develop, refine, and validate the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS). Adequate face validity and content validity were established through systematic conceptual evaluation. Higher-order factor analyses also confirmed the underlying hierarchical conceptual model of the APTS that comprises three sub-dimensions: fun-seeking motivation, uninhibitedness, and spontaneity, supporting the APTS' parsimonious unidimensional property.