Interpersonal Perception of Adult Playfulness at Zero-Acquaintance: A Conceptual Replication Study of Self-Other Agreement and Consensus, and an Extension to Two Accuracy Criteria.

Objective: We replicated and extended previous research examining the accuracy of judgments of four facets of adult playfulness (Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical; OLIW) at zero-acquaintance.

Method: We conducted a conceptual replication study. One hundred sixty targets provided self-ratings for the OLIW facets, textual self-descriptions (≤ five sentences), daily self-ratings of playfulness for 14 consecutive days, and ratings by knowledgeable others. Six unacquainted judges provided rated targets' playfulness based on their self-descriptions. We replicated findings on trait-wise self-other agreement (SOA) and consensus and extended prior research by testing SOA for profiles of the four facets and two distinct accuracy criteria (i.e., targets' diary data and aggregates of targets' self-reports and those from knowledgeable others).

Results: All interpersonal perception indicators showed that facets of playfulness can be perceived above chance (SOA ≥ 0.26; consensus ≥ 0.29, accuracies ≥ 0.16). SOA extends from single facets to profiles, also when controlling for stereotype effects.

Conclusions: Playfulness can be accurately observed from minimal textual information at zero acquaintance. Our study highlights the robustness of findings on the interpersonal perception of playfulness across samples and methods, and degrees of acquaintanceship. We discuss implications for playfulness in social relationships.