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Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work

Cara Reed Orcid Logo, Helen Williams Orcid Logo, Katrina Pritchard Orcid Logo

Work, Employment and Society, Volume: 39, Issue: 5, Pages: 1225 - 1246

Swansea University Authors: Cara Reed Orcid Logo, Helen Williams Orcid Logo, Katrina Pritchard Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/09500170251343276

Abstract

This article addresses current limitations in theorisations of fun, introducing Turner’s liminoid/liminal distinction of play and work. This suggests engaging in play – liminoid phenomena – releases individuals from everyday societal structures, like age-based identity memberships. Featuring partici...

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Published in: Work, Employment and Society
ISSN: 0950-0170 1469-8722
Published: SAGE Publications 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69168
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last_indexed 2026-01-21T05:23:42Z
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spelling 2026-01-20T12:16:59.6563212 v2 69168 2025-03-28 Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work eac785df90b2eef0da109b2686386cb3 0000-0003-1085-1661 Cara Reed Cara Reed true false 4f38e1230b00008ecd17a8ecd3b43921 0000-0001-8712-8397 Helen Williams Helen Williams true false a8b44bc7c6f2fa716a6b19916af6e3ff 0000-0003-1938-1272 Katrina Pritchard Katrina Pritchard true false 2025-03-28 CBAE This article addresses current limitations in theorisations of fun, introducing Turner’s liminoid/liminal distinction of play and work. This suggests engaging in play – liminoid phenomena – releases individuals from everyday societal structures, like age-based identity memberships. Featuring participant data from a large UK-based insurance firm, the research highlights how play activities are underpinned by age-related assumptions. The study makes three contributions. First, conceptualising the ‘pseudo-liminoid’ – a space between work and play where the potential for play to be freeing is curtailed. Second, it problematises common positive attributes of organisational play, suggesting play can reproduce social norms, thus undermining why it was introduced to the organisation. Finally, it highlights how play and fun can be ‘aged’, with implications for how organisations conceive of play’s role in creating an inclusive workplace. Journal Article Work, Employment and Society 39 5 1225 1246 SAGE Publications 0950-0170 1469-8722 age, liminoid, organisational fun, play, serious play 1 10 2025 2025-10-01 10.1177/09500170251343276 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-01-20T12:16:59.6563212 2025-03-28T14:12:36.3810746 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Business Management Cara Reed 0000-0003-1085-1661 1 Helen Williams 0000-0001-8712-8397 2 Katrina Pritchard 0000-0003-1938-1272 3 69168__34546__8e062b1952a74572b2c794fb27420014.pdf 69168.VOR.pdf 2025-06-23T15:13:12.2144190 Output 241935 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
spellingShingle Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
Cara Reed
Helen Williams
Katrina Pritchard
title_short Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
title_full Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
title_fullStr Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
title_full_unstemmed Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
title_sort Young is Fun: Examining the Inter-Relations of Play and Age at Work
author_id_str_mv eac785df90b2eef0da109b2686386cb3
4f38e1230b00008ecd17a8ecd3b43921
a8b44bc7c6f2fa716a6b19916af6e3ff
author_id_fullname_str_mv eac785df90b2eef0da109b2686386cb3_***_Cara Reed
4f38e1230b00008ecd17a8ecd3b43921_***_Helen Williams
a8b44bc7c6f2fa716a6b19916af6e3ff_***_Katrina Pritchard
author Cara Reed
Helen Williams
Katrina Pritchard
author2 Cara Reed
Helen Williams
Katrina Pritchard
format Journal article
container_title Work, Employment and Society
container_volume 39
container_issue 5
container_start_page 1225
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0950-0170
1469-8722
doi_str_mv 10.1177/09500170251343276
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Management - Business Management{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Business Management
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description This article addresses current limitations in theorisations of fun, introducing Turner’s liminoid/liminal distinction of play and work. This suggests engaging in play – liminoid phenomena – releases individuals from everyday societal structures, like age-based identity memberships. Featuring participant data from a large UK-based insurance firm, the research highlights how play activities are underpinned by age-related assumptions. The study makes three contributions. First, conceptualising the ‘pseudo-liminoid’ – a space between work and play where the potential for play to be freeing is curtailed. Second, it problematises common positive attributes of organisational play, suggesting play can reproduce social norms, thus undermining why it was introduced to the organisation. Finally, it highlights how play and fun can be ‘aged’, with implications for how organisations conceive of play’s role in creating an inclusive workplace.
published_date 2025-10-01T05:28:46Z
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score 11.096068

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