Challenges in the Scientific Study of Play

Abstract

Play is universal in the animal and human world, but the interest of psychologists mainly remains in the domain of child and sports psychology, research of humour as a form of playfulness, and examination of the effects of playing video games. The aim of this review is to provide an insight into the science of play as an interdisciplinary field that deals with the study of various aspects of play, and to encourage scientists and experts to take an interest in this field. The paper describes and compares the definitions of play by the most important authors and offers Croatian terminology that corresponds to the English one. "Play" as a superordinate term is translated as "igranje", while the term "game" which denotes a subset of structured, formal and competitive content, including sport, translates as "igra". Several typologies of games are presented in the paper, and a classification is proposed with regard to the degree of presence of each of a number of relevant play properties. Furthermore, the importance of playing in adults, which is often marginalised, is especially emphasised and explained. Some prominent psychological theories of subjective well-being that include the concept of play are described, as well as research findings that show the relationship between playfulness and various positive outcomes. At the end of the paper, the author offers some practical advice and recommendations for future research.