{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T22:54:27Z","timestamp":1768604067269,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766102400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Greene and Pruim\u2019s (2023) theory of adult communicative play (TACP) was developed as an effort to address considerations of: (a) pattern and novelty, (b) interpersonal connection, and (c) enjoyment as they pertain to adult conversational activities by recourse to a parsimonious, integrated conceptual framework. Central to their treatment is the notion of quintessential (or \u201cideal\u201d) play, referring to occasions characterized by: (a) receptivity and absorption in the conversation; (b) comprehension and understanding; (c) connection and mutuality; and (d) a sense of discovery and insight. This conception of \u201cideal play\u201d is viewed as the endpoint of a continuum along which efforts at play may be understood to be successively less and less mutually enjoyable as one moves away from the \u201cideal\u201d endpoint. The primary aim here is to further refine and clarify the nature of quintessential play. In particular, \u201cideal\u201d play is posited to: (1) unfold over multiple, mutual conversational entries, (2) be relatively rare and fleeting, (3) be enacted in pursuit of the enjoyment derived from the communicative event itself, (4) involve mutual, improvisational contributions to the interaction, and (5) be both the product and source of enhanced communication skills.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16010002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T14:27:16Z","timestamp":1766154436000},"page":"2","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Ruminations Regarding Characteristics of Quintessential Adult Communicative Play"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"John O.","family":"Greene","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327027hc0303_1","article-title":"Play and incongruity: Framing safe-sex talk","volume":"3","author":"Adelman","year":"1991","journal-title":"Health Communication"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Anderson, J. 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