Playfulness has been referred to as a disposition that involves reframing a situation to amuse
others and to make the situation more stimulating and enjoyable. Despite all the benefits of playfulness
towards psychological well-being, it remains a largely understudied subject in psychology. Hence, this
study examined the association between adult playfulness, humor styles, and subjective happiness among
a sample of 166 university students in Hong Kong and 159 students in Guangzhou. Results showed that
adult playfulness was positively correlated with affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, and subjective
happiness in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou samples. By its implication, highly playful Chinese
students preferred using affiliative and self-enhancing humor to amuse themselves and others.