2-1 Discussion: Pretend Play, Creativity, and Emotion Regulation
“Emotion regulation is the ability to manage one's emotional experiences to engage adaptively
within the daily environment” (Hoffmann, J., & Russ, S., 2012). In order to establish healthy emotional
relationships, an individual must learn to regulate, express, and control their emotions and behaviors.
Using the Affect in Play Scale (APS), pretend play among participants was observed and assessed as part
of this study's approach to emotion regulation. Per the study, “Pretend play gives children the
opportunity to act out emotional experiences and build emotion regulation skills by letting them
symbolically create and then modify highly arousing emotional events, and negotiate rules or agree
upon the direction of play with another person” (Hoffmann, J., & Russ, S., 2012). In addition to emotion
regulation, the study found that pretend play correlates with two varieties of creativity. I believe that
the study's approach to emotion regulation was appropriate after reading the whole study due to the
impact that pretend play does have on an individual's capacity to manage his or her emotions.
There were various strengths of the research done in the study as it illustrated how a child may use
pretend play to effectively regulate his or her emotions. “Children who had more organized stories and
more imagination in play were better divergent thinkers, independent of verbal ability” (Hoffmann, J., &
Russ, S., 2012). These children developed into more divergent thinkers, according to the study.
Additionally, participants of the study also demonstrated imagination at higher levels, better
organization, and better emotion regulation when compared to individuals who did not participate in
pretend play
Although there were many strengths of this research study, there were also limitations. There were just
61 participants in the study, which is a tiny number. It's a beginning, but for a topic of this nature, more
individuals may have been included to get a more varied set of data. Additionally, the study participants
only included females that were Caucasian. This unquestionably does not reflect the majority of the
population.
References:
Hoffmann, J., & Russ, S. (2012). Pretend play, creativity, and emotion regulation in children. Psychology
of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6(2), 175–184.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1037/a0026299
