An interesting new article has shown up on several feeds recently, discussing the role of playfulness in relationships.
A great summary of the research, originally published in Scientific Reports, can be found here. The nutshell: earlier research has shown that playfulness is linked to partner preferences and to relationship satisfaction. This new research underscores these findings by identifying specific attachment and jealousy connections related to playfulness.
And while the researchers candidly admit that their findings do not identify playfulness as either causing or preventing attachment or jealousy, the results do strongly indicate a correlation between playfulness and feelings of relationship security.
This study further breaks down what is meant by playfulness by analyzing specific subcategories: other-directed playfulness, lighthearted playfulness, intellectual playfulness and whimsical playfulness.
Of these four subdivisions, lighthearted and intellectual playfulness were both more strongly correlated to lower attachment anxiety. Which suggests that couples with lighthearted and intellectually playful interactions experience less relationship anxiety than their peers who do not engage in these sort of activities.
This ‘lighthearted and intellectual playfulness’ is the batter’s box that we at Surprizle are stepping into.
Gamified gifting is based on the idea that play can build better connections. During the Surprizle design process, we never considered that this would be anything other than lighthearted play between friends and family. But the above line of research suggests that there might also be a role to play in the relationships between significant others as well.
We’re not saying you need to start your second date with someone new by issueing a 30 question trivia challenge. But the research does suggest that there may be an important aspect of relationship formation that is connected to lighthearted playfulness.
And hving just passing that beloved (or be-dreaded) Valentines day holiday, it does seem like we should at least tip our hat to the potential relationship-building aspects of playing together.
We hope you had a happy, joyful (and playful) Valentines day!
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