Imaginary friend
Klausen and Passman (2007) report that imaginary companions were originally described as being supernatural creatures and spirits that were thought to connect people with their past lives.
[3] Adults in history have had entities such as household gods, guardian angels, and muses that functioned as imaginary companions to provide comfort, guidance and inspiration for creative work.
[3] In some studies, imaginary friends are defined as children impersonating a specific character (imagined by them), or objects or toys that are personified.
[5] 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.
[4][6] 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.
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.
"[9] In addition, Marjorie Taylor and her colleagues have found that fiction writers are more likely than average to have had imaginary friends as children.
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.
According to Piaget, children are scientific problem solvers who self-construct experiences and build internal mental structures based on experimentation.
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.
[14] Many of the children reported that their imaginary friends served as a conscience and helped them to make the correct decision in times where morality was questioned.
[14] Other professionals such as Marjorie Taylor feel imaginary friends are common among school-age children and are part of normal social-cognitive development.
[4] Part of the reason people believed children gave up imaginary companions earlier than has been observed is related to Piaget's stages of cognitive development.
At follow-up, those who had imaginary friends in middle school displayed better coping strategies but a "low social preference for peers."
[18] The results of their study concluded that creative and socially competent adolescents with great coping skills were particularly prone to the creation of these imaginary friends.
[18] Following the popularizing and secularizing of the concept of tulpa in the Western world, these practitioners, calling themselves "tulpamancers", report an improvement to their personal lives through the practice, and new unusual sensory experiences.
The research in this area further investigates the notion that children create imaginary companions due to the absence of peer relationships.
[22] The researchers collected information from college students who were asked if they ever had an imaginary friend as a child (Brinthaupt & Dove, 2012).
[22] 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.
[22] Furthermore, other research has concluded that women seek more social support than men, which could be another possibility for creating these imaginary companions.
[22] 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.
