The prime aim of this set of studies was to test the disposition to play (playfulness) in adults in its
relation with various measures of personality but also ability (self-estimated but also psychometrically
measured ingenuity). Study 1 (n = 180) shows that adults playfulness relates primarily to
extraversion, lower conscientiousness, and higher endorsements of culture; joy of being laughed at
(gelotophilia) and agreeableness were also predictive in a regression analysis; Study 2 (n = 264)
shows that playfulness relates primarily to a high expectation of intrinsic and a low expectation of
extrinsic goals as well as greater intrinsic and lower extrinsic importance of goals (for expressive
and fun-variants of playfulness); Study 3 (n = 212) shows that playfulness relates to greater selfperception
of one’s degree of ingenuity and psychometric ingenuity correlated primarily with
greater spontaneous and creative variants of playfulness (in about the same range for origence and
fluidity of the productions). Overall, the findings were in line with the expectations and could
stimulate further studies of playfulness in adults.