The urge to play with others, in addition to being fun, is often driven by the desire to be accepted, to belong.

Kids start this process by “parallel” play, i. e,without much consciousness of the feelings or status of the play partner, But as development proceeds, friendships happen,  empathy for another is felt, with mutual play as the crucible in which it becomes refined. Group loyalty and affection ensues, and with it the rudiments of a functioning community. And there is a fledgling science that the NIFP believes would find benefits by looking more deeply into this.  In animals, affiliative play appears to be kindled by the release of certain hormones and neurotransmitters, but it requires the experience of play to make “belonging” occur. This area of investigation may well have implications for violence prevention an other aspects of social well-being.

Sample References:

Sutton-Smith, B. (1976) Current research and theory on play, games and sports.  In T. Craig(ED) The humanistic and mental health aspects of sports, exercise, and recreation. Chicago, American Medical Assn.

Opie. I. (1993) The People in the Playground. New York, Oxford Univ. Press

Iacoboni, M., "Understanding others: imitation, language, empathy" In: Perspectives on imitation: from cognitive neuroscience to social science, Hurley, S., and Chater, N. (Eds), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

The importance of R&T play in animals and humans, has been shown to be necessary for the development and maintenance of social awareness, cooperation, fairness and altruism. Its nature and importance are  generally unappreciated, particularly by early (preschool) teachers,  who often see normal rough and tumble play behavior such as hitting, diving, wrestling, (all done with a smile, between friends who stay friends), not as a state of play, but one of anarchy that must be controlled.  A natural extension of the form -  as it naturally diminishes with age - is lifelong involvement in games, sports and group activities that not only tolerate, but enjoy creative tension. Lack of experience with this pattern of play hampers the normal give and take necessary for social mastery, and has been linked to poor control of violent impulses in later life.

Sample References:

Brown, S, (1969) " A Pilot Study of Young Murderers,"  Longitudinal Comparison of Life Experiences with Matched Cohorts. Hogg Foundation Annual Lecture, Austin, Texas.

Johnson J. (1998) Play Development from ages 4-8. In D. Fromberg & D. Bergen (Eds.), Play from birth to12 and beyond: Contexts, Perspectives, and Meanings. (pp146-153) New York, Garland. 

Pelligrini, A.D. (1988) Rough-and-Tumble play from childhood through adolescence.  In D. Fromberg & D. Bergen (Eds.)  Play from birth to twelve and beyond: Contexts, perspectives, and meanings. (pp. 401-408). New York, Garland.

Schaefer M. & Smith P.K. (1996) Teachers Perception of play fighting and real fighting in primary school. Educational Research, 38,  173-181.

Like other patterns of social play, this expression is as close as the nearest birthday party, theme park, sports stadium or rock concert. Its roots in animal play can be seen in the festive convention of Macaws on a South American mud bank, or a pack of play-frenzied wild dogs after a feast.  But few doubt its power if they have experienced it as part of a large gathering such as Red Sox fans at the moment the Sox won the world series, or  the 35,000 celebrants at the annual Burning Man festival in Black rock, Nevada. Even a shopping Mall can be a source of social celebratory play. (“I just love shopping at Christmas with the crowds.”) Ritual is often necessary to keep this social play pattern in check.

Sample References:

Abrahams, R.D. (1987) An American Vocabulary of Celebrations. In A. Falassi (ed)Time out of Time, Essays on the Festival (pp.173-183) Albuqerque: Unviversity of New Mexico Press.

Bateson, G. (1956) The Message “This is Play” In B. Schaffner (Ed) Group Process (pp 145-242) NY Josiah Macy

McMahon, F. (1993) Regional Sports: “Playing” with Politics in the Adirondacks. New York Folklore, XIX (3)  4: 59-73