Our interest in play and playfulness is a collaborative outgrowth and fueled by the inspiration of our community partners: Jeanne Cadwallader and Kathy Lubbers of Practice Playfulness.
Jeanne Cadwallader is a Strategic Advisor and Independent Consultant to new media companies. Co-Founders of Practice Playfulness Website.
Kathy Lubbers is a strategic Leadership Consultant, Coach, and a CEO.
Co-Founders of Practice Playfulness Website.
The goal of this research project is to investigate psychosocial factors that influence play and playfulness in adulthood with the aim of identifying malleable factors that, when put into practice, can help people live fuller and more engaged lives.
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Our research findings will be shared on the Practice Playfulness website
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Play and Playfulness in Adulthood Project
The PPA team is currently investigating and analyzing data on topics such as:
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How do people across adulthood define play and what does it mean to them?
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Do adults have role models in play and who are they?
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How does play and playfulness impact stress and coping in the context of stress such as the COVID-19 pandemic?
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How does playfulness relate to mastery, grit, optimism, and personal growth across adulthood?
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Adult Playfulness in the Workplace
Jessica Mesmer Magnus, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is a Professor and Department Chair of Management in the Cameron School of Business at University of North Carolina Wilmington. She was awarded the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award and UNCW’s Distinguished Teaching Professorship. Her research focuses on team cognition and behavior, workplace humor, and work/family conflict. She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Florida International University, an M.S. in Applied Psychology from Christopher Newport University, and a B.S. in Psychology and Mathematics from the University of Florida.
Chockalingam (Vish) Viswesvaran, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Florida International University. Dr. Viswesvaran conducts research on personnel selection, performance appraisal, and personality assessments in the workplace. He employs meta-analytic methods and also investigates related methodological issues in research. He has over 190 publications and 250 conference presentations Dr. Viswesvaran is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), the Association of Psychological Science as well as a Division 5 (measurement) and Division 14 (Industrial- organizational psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He earned his Ph.D. in Human Resource Management from the University of Iowa, Iowa City and holds an M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UIIC as well.
