Understanding how individuals flourish is critical to understanding adaptation to daily life stressors or the stress of major global and historical life events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present qualitative study explored the meaning and functions of play and playfulness in the lives of adults. A total of 837 adult participants (Mage = 23.52, SD = 6.28) provided detailed answers to the question “What does it mean to you to be playful?” Using thematic analyses, five main themes...
