4. Jun 2025
Be sincere, not serious – Playfulness as a resource on the PhD journey
Introduction
Play and work—surely opposites… or maybe not? Work fills a major part of our lives, yet how we experience it varies widely. Is it mainly an obligation that pays the bills, or can it also spark creativity, joy, and meaning? In this post I take a closer look at those questions.
I’m Rebekka Sendatzki, research associate and PhD candidate in personality psychology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. My dissertation explores playfulness at work: what it looks like, how we can measure it, and which other factors it relates to.
Drawing on research and personal experience, I show how a playful mindset can help you navigate the challenges of the doctoral phase—and ideally even enjoy the process. Although I write with doctoral researchers in mind, anyone engaged in any sort of work, paid, unpaid, or in-between, may find a new perspective or a few practical tips here.
What exactly is playfulness?
When you hear “playfulness,” you might picture kids, leisure, or silliness—rarely work or science. Yet studies suggest that playfulness is a genuine asset in professional settings (Mainemelis & Ronson 2006; Petelczyk et al. 2018; Proyer & Sendatzki 2025).
In psychology we define playfulness as a personality trait that differs from person to person. Playful people reframe or reshape situations, so they become more engaging, enjoyable, or mentally stimulating (Proyer 2017). That doesn’t mean cracking jokes nonstop. Playfulness isn’t the opposite of seriousness; it’s another way to tackle challenges and bring work to life. It shows up both in social exchanges and in our inner stance: approaching problems with child-like curiosity, shifting perspectives, or improvising often leads to surprisingly effective solutions.
A useful framework is the OLIW model, which describes four facets of playfulness. Everyone has all four to some degree, and different contexts may activate different facets:
- Other-directed: Enjoying playful interaction, such as friendly teasing, insider jokes.
- Lighthearted: A sense of ease; taking things not too seriously; preferring improvisation to rigid plans.
- Intellectual: Playing with ideas, such as brainstorming, thought experiments, creative writing.
- Whimsical: A taste for the offbeat and unusual, such as quirky approaches, novel twists, small eccentricities in daily life.
Curious where you stand? The free, validated questionnaires at charakterstaerken.org (University of Zurich) include one on playfulness and provide an instant personal profile.
Playfulness at work—and during the PhD
Research from our group in Halle shows that adult playfulness matters across many life domains: social relationships (Brauer et al. 2021), stress management (Tandler et al. 2024), and mental and physical health (Proyer et al. 2018). More recently the spotlight has shifted to working life (Petelczyk et al. 2018; Proyer & Sendatzki 2025), helped by concepts such as playful work design and gamification.
A doctorate offers its own mix of hurdles: self-management, writer’s block, self-doubt, perfectionism. Playfulness isn’t a miracle cure, but it can tip the balance away from pressure and heaviness. Sprinkling playful moments into your routine often boosts motivation, lightens the mood, and sparks creative fixes when things stall.
Playfulness does not have to be loud, goofy, or time-consuming. Tiny perspective shifts or micro-interventions can make tasks lighter, more interesting, or unexpectedly fun. Below is a collection of ideas, like mini-quests for writing goals, thinking games to break blocks, personal challenges at conferences, or playful spins on bureaucracy. The aim isn’t to turn everything into a joke, but to see routines with fresh eyes, stay curious, and invite creativity into your work.
These examples underscore one point: playfulness is less a technique than an attitude. It gives us permission to carve out pockets of ease even in serious contexts. Not at the expense of productivity, but in service of sustainable motivation and satisfaction. Be sincere, not serious. When we clutch a game too tightly, we lose the fun—even if we “win.” The same goes for a PhD.
Name: Rebekka Sendatzki
Institution: Department of Psychological Assessment and Differential Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
Research Areas: Playfulness in adulthood, especially at work, other positive-psychology constructs (e.g., humor, laughter, character strengths), romantic relationships, psychometric and validity issues in psychological assessment
Doctoral Project
Playfulness at Work: A Conceptual Framework, Assessment, and Empirical Investigation of Work-Related Outcomes
Playfulness research in the workplace is still young and fragmented. My PhD therefore aims to
- systematically review the literature and establish a common terminology (Proyer & Sendatzki, in press)
- examine differences in playfulness across academic disciplines and occupations (Sendatzki et al., 2025)
- develop a reliable, valid instrument to assess workplace playfulness
- test its links with job satisfaction, productivity, and workplace relationships
CV
Bachelor (2019) and Master’s degree (2021) in Psychology at MLU
2018–2022 Student assistant & project staff, Personnel Development Unit
2018–2021 Research assistant, Dept. of Psychological Assessment & Differential Psychology
Since 2021 Research associate (doctoral researcher), same department
2023–2024 Parental leave
Links: Website, ResearchGate, GoogleScholar
Further readings
- Brauer, K., Proyer, R. T., & Chick, G. (2021). Adult playfulness: An update on an understudied individual differences variable and its role in romantic life. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(4), Article e12589. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12589
- Petelczyc, C. A., Capezio, A., Wang, L., Restubog, S. L. D., & Aquino, K. (2018). Play at work: An integrative review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management, 44(1), 161–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206317731519
- Proyer, R. T. (2017). A new structural model for adult playfulness: The OLIW-model. Personality and Individual Differences, 113, 18–27.
- Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Bertenshaw, E. J., & Brauer, K. (2018). The positive relationships of playfulness with indicators of health, activity, and physical fitness. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1440. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01440
- Proyer, R. T., & Sendatzki, R. (in press). Examining play and playfulness at work: Current knowledge, practical applications and future research directions. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior.
- Sendatzki, R., Brauer, K., & Proyer, R. T. (2025). An Initial Study on the Role of Playfulness in Vocational Interests and Career Choices. Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Tandler, N., Schilling-Friedemann, S., Frazier, L. D., Sendatzki, R., & Proyer, R. T. (2024). New insights into the contributions of playfulness to dealing with stress at work: Correlates of self- and peer-rated playfulness and coping strategies. New Ideas in Psychology, 75, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2024.101109
- Interestings reads:
- Blog post about „Be sincere, not serious“ https://every.to/expanding-awareness/be-sincere-not-serious
- German interview with the founders of the Miniaturwunderland Hamburg (ZEIT-ONLINE)
About this article
Doctoral students at MLU conduct research on a variety of exciting topics in a wide range of disciplines. In this article, a topic and the associated results with relevance for as many doctoral students as possible – across all disciplines – are highlighted. The topic presented here can thus have a positive effect on the doctoral period.
Dieser Beitrag ist auch auf deutsch auf dem Blog der InGrA im Juni 2025 erschienen.
