Imaginary Companions

Imaginary companions refers to relationships with nonexistent beings created primarily by children. Three phenomena have been described with respect to this term, two of which constitute imaginary relationships: invisible companions and personified objects. Invisible companions have no tangible basis, although they may be based on fictional characters or real people; some are completely invented. Personified objects are objects that the child animates, attributes personality to, and generally treats as alive. Some researchers also consider pretend identities, or roles that children adopt for extended periods of time (i.e., months), as the creation of an imaginary companion. This form, however, is a role taken on by the child, and thus may not function as a relationship in the same manner as an invisible companion or a personified object. Relationships researchers are interested in imaginary companions because they provide some of the same social benefits to their creators that real relationships do, such as companionship and validation. They also resemble real relationships, in that children claim a sense of interdependence with their imaginary companions and pretend to interact with them frequently, over months or years.

Imaginary companions come in all shapes and sizes. Invisible companions typically take the form of humans (e.g., babies, children, and, less frequently, adults), animals, or monsters, and personified objects run the gamut from common versions, such as stuffed animals and dolls, to more esoteric objects, such as toy trains or a small can of tomato paste. Children sometimes have whole gangs of invisible friends or a family of animated stuffed animals. Pretend identities may be simple, such as an imaginary child, or fantastical, such as Superman. A few sex differences have emerged in the creation of imaginary companions: Boys may be more likely to create pretend identities and girls to create invisible companions. In addition, whereas girls create male and female companions relatively evenly, most boys' imaginary companions are male.

Imaginary companions are described by children as young as age 2 and as old as age 7 and may exist even later in childhood. Although these companions probably vary substantially in sophistication, using the broadest definition of the phenomenon (all three types), approximately two thirds of young children report creating an imaginary companion at some point in early childhood. Some of these children share information about their imaginary companions with others, particularly parents, but the tendency to do so wanes with age. In general, children with and without imaginary companions do not differ much, even on variables related to relationships, such as the size or makeup [Page 833]of the children's social networks, number of friends, or family composition. Children who create imaginary companions are slightly more likely than their peers to be firstborn or only children and to have fewer siblings. Some empirical evidence suggests that children with imaginary companions have a penchant for fantasy more so than children without such companions, and the two groups may also differ on sociability. Contrary to media representations of children with imaginary companions, they tend to be less shy and more sociable than others—if personality differences are found at all.

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