Play Personalities

What Are Your Play Personalities?

As we mature, we develop a style or mode in which we are most comfortable being playful. Dr. Brown  calls these styles of playfulness, “play personalities.”  These are not based on scientific data, rather Dr. Brown discerned them from thousands of interviews and observations. He’s identified eight primary play personality types described below.  Most people tend to have one dominant play personality type and one or two minor types. 

Find Your Play Personality

Therapist Lindsay Braman created a quiz based on Dr. Brown’s Play Personalities, called Play Styles. Click here to take her Play Style quiz! Additional resources about play personalities are listed at the bottom of this page!

The Collector

The thrill of play for the collector is to have and to hold an interesting collection of objects or experiences — coins, toy trains, antiques, wine, shoes, videos of race car crashes, or pieces of the crashed cars themselves. Collections of most anything can trigger this personality into a play state. A person who travels the world to see solar eclipses — which might seem like the action of an explorer — but whose joy derives from her methodically collected evidence of each eclipse is probably a collector. 

Collectors may enjoy collecting as a solitary activity, or it may be the focus of an intense social connection with others who share their passion. Jay Leno is exuberant when showing his car collection. Finding cars for his collection and working on them is what he does in his free time to experience the joy of a play state.

Jay Leno’s obvious joy in his car collection is a classic example of collector play behavior. Photo: Sharon L. Chapman (slgckgc) / CC BY 2.0.

The Collector

Jay Leno’s obvious joy in his car collection is a classic example of collector play behavior. Photo: Sharon L. Chapman (slgckgc) / CC BY 2.0.

The thrill of play for the collector is to have and to hold an interesting collection of objects or experiences — coins, toy trains, antiques, wine, shoes, videos of race car crashes, or pieces of the crashed cars themselves. Collections of most anything can trigger this personality into a play state. A person who travels the world to see solar eclipses — which might seem like the action of an explorer — but whose joy derives from her methodically collected evidence of each eclipse is probably a collector. 

Collectors may enjoy collecting as a solitary activity, or it may be the focus of an intense social connection with others who share their passion. Jay Leno is exuberant when showing his car collection. Finding cars for his collection and working on them is what he does in his free time to experience the joy of a play state.

The Competitor

The perfect opening gambit, the unbelievable score, the fastest time: Competitors access the euphoria and creativity of play by participating in a competitive game with specific rules. Competitors aren’t playing just for the game; they are playing to win. If games and keeping score are your thing, this may be your primary play personality. 

Competitors may enter play state through a single-player video game or by playing a team sport like baseball. They may actively participate in the game or just watch, as a fan. Competitors make themselves known in social groups, where the fun comes from being the top person in the group. 

Tom Brady is a classic competitor; his reactions and energy under deep stress — when being rushed by the defense or needing to score with seconds left in the game — show that he is intensely competitive with a keen eye for how to win.

 

Tom Brady's clear love of not just playing football but dominating the sport demonstrates typical competitor play behavior. Photo: All-Pro Reels Photography / CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Competitor

Tom Brady's clear love of not just playing football but dominating the sport demonstrates typical competitor play behavior. Photo: All-Pro Reels Photography / CC BY-SA 2.0.

The perfect opening gambit, the unbelievable score, the fastest time: Competitors access the euphoria and creativity of play by participating in a competitive game with specific rules. Competitors aren’t playing just for the game; they are playing to win. If games and keeping score are your thing, this may be your primary play personality. 

Competitors may enter play state through a single-player video game or by playing a team sport like baseball. They may actively participate in the game or just watch, as a fan. Competitors make themselves known in social groups, where the fun comes from being the top person in the group. 

Tom Brady is a classic competitor; his reactions and energy under deep stress — when being rushed by the defense or needing to score with seconds left in the game — show that he is intensely competitive with a keen eye for how to win.

The Creator/Artist

For the creator/artist, joy is found in making things. Painting, printmaking, woodworking, pottery, and sculpture are well-known activities of creator/artists, but furniture making, knitting, sewing, and gardening are also in their purview. Creator/artists may show their creations to the world or may never show anyone what they make. The point is to make something — to make something beautiful, something functional, something goofy. Or to make something work — the creator/artist may enjoy taking apart a pump, replacing broken parts, cleaning it, and putting back together a shiny, perfectly working mechanism. Creative play could even mean decorating a room or a house. 

Michelangelo said he could look at a block of marble and see the statue in it. Matisse experimented with many different forms of fine art in his career, from oil paints and pastels to paper cutouts and stained-glass windows. Steve Jobs was a supreme creator/artist; he stood out in the technology industry because he created products with capabilities ahead of their time packaged in beautiful designs.

His relentless pursuit of beauty and function in technology may indicate that Steve Jobs had a creator/artist play personality.

The Creator/Artist

His relentless pursuit of beauty and function in technology may indicate that Steve Jobs had a creator/artist play personality.

For the creator/artist, joy is found in making things. Painting, printmaking, woodworking, pottery, and sculpture are well-known activities of creator/artists, but furniture making, knitting, sewing, and gardening are also in their purview. Creator/artists may show their creations to the world or may never show anyone what they make. The point is to make something — to make something beautiful, something functional, something goofy. Or to make something work — the creator/artist may enjoy taking apart a pump, replacing broken parts, cleaning it, and putting back together a shiny, perfectly working mechanism. Creative play could even mean decorating a room or a house. 

Michelangelo said he could look at a block of marble and see the statue in it. Matisse experimented with many different forms of fine art in his career, from oil paints and pastels to paper cutouts and stained-glass windows. Steve Jobs was a supreme creator/artist; he stood out in the technology industry because he created products with capabilities ahead of their time packaged in beautiful designs.

The Director

Directors play by planning; they enjoy planning and executing scenes and events. Though many are unconscious of their motives and style of operating, they love the power to make things happen. They are born organizers. At their best, they are the party givers, the planners of great excursions, the dynamic centers of their social worlds. At worst, they are manipulators: All the world’s a stage, and the rest of us merely players in the director’s game. 

Good examples of people who represent director play are Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, and Oprah Winfrey, who early in her career turned a faltering talk show into must-watch TV, then launched her own production company and eventually formed her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey excels at planning, organizing, and directing people to achieve great things, but she also clearly loves doing it — classic director play behavior. Photo: Luke Vargas / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Director

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey excels at planning, organizing, and directing people to achieve great things, but she also clearly loves doing it — classic director play behavior. Photo: Luke Vargas / CC BY-SA 2.0

Directors play by planning; they enjoy planning and executing scenes and events. Though many are unconscious of their motives and style of operating, they love the power to make things happen. They are born organizers. At their best, they are the party givers, the planners of great excursions, the dynamic centers of their social worlds. At worst, they are manipulators: All the world’s a stage, and the rest of us merely players in the director’s game. 

Good examples of people who represent director play are Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, and Oprah Winfrey, who early in her career turned a faltering talk show into must-watch TV, then launched her own production company and eventually formed her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

The Explorer

All of us start life driven to explore our world; some people never lose their enthusiasm for it. Exploration becomes their preferred path to a play state — their way of provoking the imagination. Think Anthony Bourdain, Richard Branson, or Jane Goodall. 

Exploring can be physical — literally going to new places — or emotional — searching for a new feeling or a deepening of the familiar through music, movement, or even flirtation. Exploration can also be mental, such as researching a new subject or seeking out new points of view. 

Dr. Brown knew Dr. Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine, and saw him as an explorer personality.

Dr. Brown says Dr. Jonas Salk understood the contours of a virus like a mapmaker understands the coast of California — an explorer play personality driven to discover new things.

The Explorer

Dr. Brown says Dr. Jonas Salk understood the contours of a virus like a mapmaker understands the coast of California — an explorer play personality driven to discover new things.

All of us start life driven to explore our world; some people never lose their enthusiasm for it. Exploration becomes their preferred path to a play state — their way of provoking the imagination. Think Anthony Bourdain, Richard Branson, or Jane Goodall. 

Exploring can be physical — literally going to new places — or emotional — searching for a new feeling or a deepening of the familiar through music, movement, or even flirtation. Exploration can also be mental, such as researching a new subject or seeking out new points of view. 

Dr. Brown knew Dr. Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine, and saw him as an explorer personality.

The Joker

The most basic and extreme player throughout history is the joker. A joker’s play always revolves around some kind of foolishness. In school a joker might have found social acceptance by clowning around to make classmates laugh. Adult jokers carry on that social strategy in different ways. 

George Clooney is a notorious practical joker. On the sets of Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen, he and fellow actor Matt Damon reportedly would try to outdo each other with practical jokes. And of course, joking is a central element of the personality of Jerry Seinfeld, who for 10 years wrote and acted in one of the most popular American sitcoms of all time. 

Jerry Seinfeld, like many professional comedians, shows a love of laughter and hijinks that is linked to the joker play personality. Photo: Sharon L. Chapman (slgckgc) / CC BY 2.0.

The Joker

Jerry Seinfeld, like many professional comedians, shows a love of laughter and hijinks that is linked to the joker play personality. Photo: Sharon L. Chapman (slgckgc) / CC BY 2.0.

The most basic and extreme player throughout history is the joker. A joker’s play always revolves around some kind of foolishness. In school a joker might have found social acceptance by clowning around to make classmates laugh. Adult jokers carry on that social strategy in different ways. 

George Clooney is a notorious practical joker. On the sets of Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen, he and fellow actor Matt Damon reportedly would try to outdo each other with practical jokes. And of course, joking is a central element of the personality of Jerry Seinfeld, who for 10 years wrote and acted in one of the most popular American sitcoms of all time. 

The Kinesthete

Kinesthetes are people who like to move; some even need to move in order to think. This category includes athletes such as Serena Williams and Seth Curry, but also people like Gillian Lynne, who find themselves happiest moving as part of dance, swimming, or walking. 

Kinesthetes naturally want to push their bodies and feel the result. They may play football, practice yoga, dance, or jump rope to access the joy and openness of play. While kinesthetes may play sports, competition is not the main focus — it is a way of engaging in movement.

Gillian Lynne, famed for her choreography, was also a gifted ballerina, dancer, and director. Her delight in movement is typical of a kinesthete play personality. Photo: Daniel Deme/WENN.com / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Kinesthete

Gillian Lynne, famed for her choreography, was also a gifted ballerina, dancer, and director. Her delight in movement is typical of a kinesthete play personality. Photo: Daniel Deme/WENN.com / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kinesthetes are people who like to move; some even need to move in order to think. This category includes athletes such as Serena Williams and Seth Curry, but also people like Gillian Lynne, who find themselves happiest moving as part of dance, swimming, or walking. 

Kinesthetes naturally want to push their bodies and feel the result. They may play football, practice yoga, dance, or jump rope to access the joy and openness of play. While kinesthetes may play sports, competition is not the main focus — it is a way of engaging in movement.

The Storyteller

For the storyteller, imagination is the key to the joys of play. Storytellers may be novelists, playwrights, cartoonists, or screenwriters, or they may find their greatest joy in reading the novels and watching the movies created by others. Storytellers feel engaged in stories, and experience the thoughts and emotions of characters in the story. Performers of all sorts are storytellers, creating an imaginative world through acting, dance, lectures, or magic tricks. 

Because imagination is the realm of the storyteller, they can bring play to almost any activity. They may be playing a recreational game of tennis, but in their mind, each point is a scene in an exciting drama. Where a competitor is in it to win it, the storyteller just wants to have an exciting match. 

Garrison Keillor and Bob Costas are natural-born storytellers, as is Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg began film-based storytelling at an early age and has continued exploring it throughout his life — strong indicators of a storytelling play personality. Photo: Wikimedia User Pikawil / CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Storyteller

Steven Spielberg began film-based storytelling at an early age and has continued exploring it throughout his life — strong indicators of a storytelling play personality. Photo: Wikimedia User Pikawil / CC BY-SA 2.0.

For the storyteller, imagination is the key to the joys of play. Storytellers may be novelists, playwrights, cartoonists, or screenwriters, or they may find their greatest joy in reading the novels and watching the movies created by others. Storytellers feel engaged in stories, and experience the thoughts and emotions of characters in the story. Performers of all sorts are storytellers, creating an imaginative world through acting, dance, lectures, or magic tricks. 

Because imagination is the realm of the storyteller, they can bring play to almost any activity. They may be playing a recreational game of tennis, but in their mind, each point is a scene in an exciting drama. Where a competitor is in it to win it, the storyteller just wants to have an exciting match. 

Garrison Keillor and Bob Costas are natural-born storytellers, as is Steven Spielberg.

Additional Resources on Play Personalities​

Other Play Personality Quizzes: 

Additional Related Resources:

*These resources are based on Dr. Brown’s play personality types and other published work.