Play as a new category in time structuring

Abstract

The purpose of the article was to draw attention to usefulness of a relatively recently separated, additional time structuring category: play. This category refers to Natural Child’s activity state, under which a person consciously takes actions with a high level of spontaneity, which is a source of pleasant emotions. This way of time structuring, despite having some common points, differs both from pastimes, games, activities and intimacy, covering some categorisation gaps in Berne’s categorisation system. It was confirmed by my own study on the link between students’ style ofliving and time structuring, which showed that play has an important role in their lives.