Free Play as Children Leads to Adult Social Success
By Wendy Priesnitz
Research published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology has found that people who recall having plenty of free time during childhood enjoy high levels of social success as adults.
A team of three psychologists from the University of Hildesheim in Germany surveyed one hundred and thirty-four people about their childhood experiences with play. The sample comprised ninety-three females and forty-one males, and the age range was twenty to sixty-six years.
The researchers found a significant positive correlation between ample time for free play during childhood and adult social success. Free time as kids was also linked with high self-esteem and adaptivity. The researchers found that free play fosters adaptivity (flexibility of goal adjustment), which is also one of the factors for a successful career and adulthood in general.
While “it goes without saying that child play is not the sole, nor perhaps even the most important predictor of social success … the correlation we found in this study was surprisingly high,” the researchers write in their article.
This research reminds us of something crucial to this magazine's philosophy: Some of the least formal and most spontaneous learning experiences are the best ones.
