Adult playfulness and its relationship with humor, subjective happiness and depression: a comparative study of Hong Kong and mainland China

Abstract

Playfulness in adult has been shown to be beneficial to different aspects of well-being. Yet, adult playfulness remains an understudied concept, especially in Chinese society. To address this gap in research, this study aimed to investigate adult playfulness and its relationship with humor, subjective happiness and depression among university students from Hong Kong and Guangdong. A total of 325 students were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Results revealed positive correlations between adult playfulness, sense of humor, adaptive humor styles, importance of humor, self humor and subjective happiness. Negative correlation between adult playfulness and self-rating depression was also found. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis showed that the two adaptive humor styles were strong predictors for adult playfulness. Furthermore, the relationship between adult playfulness and subjective happiness was mediated by adaptive humor styles, importance of humor and mother’s humor, whereas the relationship between adult playfulness and depression was mediated by adaptive humor styles. This study provided initial details of Chinese playfulness and further confirmed the value of playfulness in psychological well-being. Suggestions for future studies were also discussed.