Fun isn't easy: Children selectively manipulate task difficulty when "playing for fun" versus "playing to win".

IF 2.7 2区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Developmental Psychology Pub Date : 2026-11-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-11 DOI:10.1037/dev0002108

Junyi Chu, Joshua S Rule, Mariel K Goddu, Verity Pinter, Emily Rose Reagan, Elizabeth Bonawitz, Alison Gopnik, Tomer D Ullman

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Play is important in many cultures and species, but the basic motivations behind play remain unclear. In two preregistered experiments, we examined what 5- to 10-year-old children (n = 124) think makes play rewarding under internally and externally motivated contexts using a novel game design task. We specifically compared children's choices about how to best configure a novel tossing game when either playing for fun or playing to win. We found that for "win-relevant" variables, children chose easier settings when playing to win than when playing for fun. By contrast, for "win-irrelevant" variables, children generally preferred similar settings across conditions. Children also judged "win-relevant" variables as more important to winning than "win-irrelevant" variables and judged both as irrelevant to having fun. These results suggest that playing to win and playing for fun are distinct motivational contexts to which children can appropriately adapt their decisions during play. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

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乐趣并不容易：孩子们在“为乐趣而玩”和“为胜利而玩”时选择性地操纵任务难度。

游戏在许多文化和物种中都很重要，但游戏背后的基本动机尚不清楚。在两个预先注册的实验中，我们研究了5至10岁的儿童（n = 124）在使用新颖的游戏设计任务的情况下，对内部和外部激励情境下的游戏奖励的看法。我们特别比较了孩子们的选择，关于如何最好地配置一个新颖的投掷游戏，无论是玩得开心还是玩得赢。我们发现，对于“赢相关”变量，当孩子们为了赢而玩时，他们会选择更简单的设置，而不是为了好玩而玩。相比之下，对于“与赢无关”的变量，孩子们通常更喜欢不同条件下相似的设置。孩子们还认为“与胜利相关”的变量比“与胜利无关”的变量对获胜更重要，并且认为两者都与获得乐趣无关。这些结果表明，为赢而玩和为乐趣而玩是不同的动机背景，儿童可以在游戏中适当地适应他们的决定。（PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA，版权所有）。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Developmental Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

5.80

自引率

2.50%

发文量

329

期刊介绍： Developmental Psychology ® publishes articles that significantly advance knowledge and theory about development across the life span. The journal focuses on seminal empirical contributions. The journal occasionally publishes exceptionally strong scholarly reviews and theoretical or methodological articles. Studies of any aspect of psychological development are appropriate, as are studies of the biological, social, and cultural factors that affect development. The journal welcomes not only laboratory-based experimental studies but studies employing other rigorous methodologies, such as ethnographies, field research, and secondary analyses of large data sets. We especially seek submissions in new areas of inquiry and submissions that will address contradictory findings or controversies in the field as well as the generalizability of extant findings in new populations. Although most articles in this journal address human development, studies of other species are appropriate if they have important implications for human development. Submissions can consist of single manuscripts, proposed sections, or short reports.