Exploring the acquaintanceship effect for the accuracy of judgments of traits and profiles of adult playfulness.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to extend the research on the interpersonal perception of adult playfulness (global and facets: Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical [OLIW]) by testing whether judgmental accuracy relates to indicators of acquaintanceship. BACKGROUND: Playfulness has been found to contribute to social relationships. METHOD: Using data from 658 dyads (1,318 participants) who had been acquainted for 1 month to 62.2 years, we computed measurement invariance analyses and self-other agreement (SOA) for the facets and profiles of playfulness. We operationalized acquaintanceship as length of acquaintanceship, relationship type (friends, family, and partners), and intensity of acquaintanceship. We tested acquaintanceship effects with multigroup latent analyses and response surface analyses. RESULTS: Self- and other ratings of playfulness showed scalar measurement invariance and robust SOA in traits and distinctive profiles (≥ .37). There was only minor evidence for acquaintanceship effects for relationship duration (only Intellectual playfulness), and group comparisons showed that friends yielded lower SOA in profiles than dyads of family members and couples. CONCLUSION: Considering that playfulness can be accurately perceived even at zero acquaintance, we discuss whether playfulness is a "good trait" (high trait visibility) in which acquaintanceship plays a minor role. We also discuss methodological considerations for detecting acquaintanceship effects during relationship formation.