Imaginary friend

In some studies, imaginary friends are defined as children impersonating a specific character (imagined by them), or objects or toys that are personified. However, some psychologists will define an imaginary friend only as a separate created character. Imaginary friends can be people, but they can also take the shape of other characters such as animals or other abstract ideas such as ghosts, monsters, robots, aliens or angels. These characters can be created at any point during a lifetime, though Western culture suggests they are most acceptable in preschool- and school-age children. Once children reach school age, boys and girls are equally likely to have an imaginary companion. suggest that imaginary friends are much like a fictional character created by an author. As Eileen Kennedy-Moore points out, "Adult fiction writers often talk about their characters taking on a life of their own, which may be an analogous process to children’s invisible friends." In addition, Marjorie Taylor and her colleagues have found that fiction writers are more likely than average to have had imaginary friends as children. There is a difference between the common imaginary friends that many children create, and the imaginary voices of psychopathology. Often when there’s a psychological disorder and any inner voices are present, they add negativity to the conversation. The person with the disorder may sometimes believe that the imagined voices are physically real, not an imagined inner dialog. Imaginary friends can serve various functions. Playing with imaginary friends enables children to enact behaviors and events they have not yet experienced. Imaginary play allows children to use their imagination to construct knowledge of the world. In addition, imaginary friends might also fulfill children's innate desire to connect with others before actual play among peers is common. According to psychologist Lev Vygotsky, cultural tools and interaction with people mediate psychological functioning and cognitive development. Imaginary friends, perceived as real beings, could teach children how to interact with others along with many other social skills. Vygotsky's sociocultural view of child development includes the notion of children's “zone of proximal development,” which is the difference between what children can do with and without help. Imaginary friends can aid children in learning things about the world that they could not learn without help, such as appropriate social behavior, and thus can act as a scaffold for children to achieve slightly above their social capability. In addition, imaginary friends also serve as a means for children to experiment with and explore the world. In this sense, imaginary companions also relate to Piaget's theory of child development because they are completely constructed by the child. According to Piaget, children are scientific problem solvers who self-construct experiences and build internal mental structures based on experimentation. The creation of and interaction with imaginary companions helps children to build such mental structures. The relationship between a child and their imaginary friend can serve as a catalyst for the formation of real relationships in later development and thus provides a head start to practising real-life interaction. ==Research==

It has been theorized that children with imaginary friends may develop language skills and retain knowledge faster than children without them, which may be because these children get more linguistic practice than their peers as a result of carrying out "conversations" with their imaginary friends. Kutner (n.d.) reported that 65% of 7-year-old children report they have had an imaginary companion at some point in their lives. He further reported: Imaginary friends are an integral part of many children's lives. They provide comfort in times of stress, companionship when they're lonely, someone to boss around when they feel powerless, and someone to blame for the broken lamp in the living room. Most important, an imaginary companion is a tool young children use to help them make sense of the adult world. Taylor, Carlson & Gerow (c2001: p. 190) hold that: despite some results suggesting that children with imaginary friends might be superior in intelligence, it is not true that all intelligent children create them. If imaginary friends can provide assistance to children in developing their social skills, they must function as important roles in the lives of children. Hoff (2004 – 2005) was interested in finding out the roles and functions of imaginary friends and how they impacted the lives of children. The results of her study have provided some significant insight on the roles of imaginary friends. Many of the children reported their imaginary friends as being sources of comfort in times of boredom and loneliness. Because imagination play with a character involves the child often imagining how another person (or character) would act, research has been done to determine if having an imaginary companion has a positive effect on theory of mind development. When children develop the realization that other people have different thoughts and beliefs other than their own, they are able to grow in their development of theory of mind as they begin to have better understandings of emotions. Hope seems to be the underlying tool children use in motivation. The researchers explored the prevalence of imaginary companions in adolescence by investigating the diaries of adolescents age 12-17. Birth order To uncover the origin of imaginary companions and learn more about the children who create them, it is necessary to seek out children who have created imaginary companions. Unfortunately young children cannot accurately self-report, therefore the most effective way to gather information about children and their imaginary companions is by interviewing the people who spend the most time with them. Often mothers are the primary caretakers who spend the most time with a child. Therefore, for this study 78 mothers were interviewed and asked whether their child had an imaginary friend. A study that examined the differences in self-talk frequency as a function of age, only-child, and imaginary childhood companion status provides a insight to the commonalties of children with imaginary companions. The researchers collected information from college students who were asked if they ever had an imaginary friend as a child (Brinthaupt & Dove, 2012). There were three trials in the study and the researchers found that there were significant differences in self-talk between different age groupings. Their first trial indicated that only children who create imaginary companions actually engage in high levels of positive self-talk had more positive social development. They also found that women were more likely than men to have had an imaginary companion. Their findings were consistent with other research which suggests that it is more common for females to have imaginary companions. The researchers suggested that women may be more likely to have imaginary companions because they are more likely to rely on feedback from persons other than themselves, thus supporting the theory that men have more self reinforcing self-talk. Furthermore, other research has concluded that women seek more social support than men, which could be another possibility for creating these imaginary companions. The second trial found that children without siblings reported more self-talk than children with siblings; the third trial found that the students who reported having an imaginary friend also reported more self-talk than the other students who did not have imaginary friends. When self-talk is negative, it is associated with effects such as increased anxiety and depression. The researchers concluded that "individuals with higher levels of social-assessment and critical self-talk reported lower self-esteem and more frequent automatic negative self-statements." When self-talk is positive, however, the study found that "people with higher levels of self-reinforcing self-talk reported more positive self-esteem and more frequent automatic positive self-statements". == See also ==