Abstract
Play is a distinctive kind of positive behavior, whereas creativity is a distinctive positive process. Leisure studies and the study of play should be natural partners in the investigation of free-time activity. The scope of the two fields is examined and their central concepts defined. Much of theory and research in the social scientific study of play falls into three concentrations: (1) play as disinterested activity; (2) play as interested activity in games, both sport and nonsport; and (3) play as interested activity in the arts. Next, play is placed within the serious leisure perspective. Creativeness is treated as positive leisure activity, an offspring of the marriage of the studies of play and leisure.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bonura, K. (2009). Academic learning and play. In R.P. Carlisle (Ed.), Encyclopedia of play in today’s society (pp. 1–5). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Caillois, R. (2001). Man, play and games, trans. M. Barash. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. The original was published in 1958 in French and translated into English in 1961.
Henricks, T.S. (2006). Play reconsidered: Sociological perspectives on human expression. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo ludens: A study of the play element in culture. Boston, MA: Beacon. The original was published in 1938 in Dutch, with its first English translation appearing in 1950.
Kelly, J.R. (1990). Leisure, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kleiber, D.A., Walker, G.J., & Mannell, R.C. (2011). The social psychology of leisure, 2nd ed. State College, PA: Venture.
Moore, K. (2003). Play. In J.J. Jenkins & J.J. Pigram (Eds.), Encyclopedia of leisure and outdoor recreation (pp. 373–376). London: Routledge.
Neulinger, J. (1981). To leisure: An introduction. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Norbeck, E. (2013). The anthropological study of human play, http://www.dspace.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/63156/article_RIP603_parti.pdf?sequence=1 (retrieved January 22, 2013).
Oatley, K., Keltner, D., & Jenkins, J.M. (2006). Understanding emotions, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
Simonton, D.K. (2009). Creativity. In S.J. Lopez & C.R. Snyder (Eds). The Oxford handbook of positive psychology, 2nd ed. (pp. 261–269). New York: Oxford University Press.
Snyder, C.R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 249–275.
Snyder, C.R., Lopez, S.J., & Pedrotti, J.T. (2011). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stebbins, R.A. (2004). Fun, enjoyable, satisfying, fulfilling: Describing positive leisure experience. Leisure Studies Association Newsletter, 69(November), 8–11 (also available at www.seriousleisure.net/Digital Library, “Leisure Reflections No. 7”).
Stebbins, R.A. (2007/2015). Serious leisure: A perspective for our time. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction (paperback edition with new Preface, 2015).
Stebbins, R.A. (2009). Personal decisions in the public square: Beyond problem solving into a positive sociology. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Stebbins, R.A. (2012). The idea of leisure: First principles. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Stebbins, R.A. (2013). Homo otiosus: Who is this creature, does it exist, should it matter? Leisure Studies Association Newsletter, 94(March), 19–21 at (also available at www.seriousleisure.net/Digital Library, “Leisure Reflections No. 32”).
Stebbins, R.A. (2014). Careers in serious leisure: From dabbler to devotee in search of fulfillment. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sutton-Smith, B. (2001). The ambiguity of play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Robert A. Stebbins
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Stebbins, R.A. (2015). Play and Creativity. In: Leisure and Positive Psychology: Linking Activities with Positiveness. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-56994-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-56994-3_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-56496-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56994-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)