Q: Tommy wonders, “Why do people play? Why have evolutionary forces allowed such behavior to persist? Shouldn’t all the serious, always-working types have thrived while us play types were devoured by lions? Play. What is it and why do we do it? Because it is fun is not an explanation, but a definition of play itself.”

A: Hi Tommy,

There have been a lot or empirical studies and even more theorizing about the nature of play. Unfortunately, we have been too busy working to read them all! What we do know is that play serves a number of functions. For example, it acts as a means of socialization. This is easy to see when you watch kids play. Kids learn a lot about gender roles, acceptable rules for behavior and potential jobs. Although it is less evident to the untrained eye, play continues to act as an important agent of socialization for adults. For example, a plethora of rules for acceptable behavior are taught and practiced through the game of golf (being quiet, being patient) or through attending cocktail parties (how to make small talk, how to interact with strangers, etc). In other words, play often gives us the opportunity to practice our social skills and to act out our assigned roles in a less threatening environment than a serious work setting.

Play also serves important functions around stress relief and the generation of creativity—which goes a long way in explaining why it has not been weeded out by evolution.

Historically, play has served some interesting functions around perpetuating and calling out class differences as certain types of leisure activities were expensive and/or obtainable only by those who had a good deal of expendable income. So some have argued that the real function of play was not relaxation, but class division.

If you would like to learn more about play, check out George Herbert Mead’s classic work: Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934.

Thanks for the question,

Melinda