Imaginary Friends and the People Who Create Them

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Marjorie Taylor (Professor Emerit of Psychology, Professor Emerit of Psychology, University of Oregon) Naomi R. Aguiar (Associate Director of Research, Associate Director of Research, Oregon State University Ecampus)

Imaginary Friends and the People Who Create Them

Marjorie Taylor (Professor Emerit of Psychology, Professor Emerit of Psychology, University of Oregon), Naomi R. Aguiar (Associate Director of Research, Associate Director of Research, Oregon State University Ecampus)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
07 April 2025

Does your child talk to an imaginary friend? Did you create an imaginary friend as a child? What does having an imaginary friend mean? Is it an early marker of special creativity or a red flag signaling emotional distress? Can an imaginary friend provide support and love that is experienced as real?

In this updated and greatly expanded second edition, Marjorie Taylor and Naomi R. Aguiar provide a comprehensive review of what is known about imaginary friends, including research conducted over the past 25 years since the first edition as published in 1999, as well as the classic early studies. Imaginary Friends and the People Who Create Them provides rich descriptions of imaginary friends and how they function in the lives of both children and adults. The authors discuss psychological research on imaginary friends and explore connections to related phenomena, such as imaginary worlds, relationships with media characters, and the development of creativity. A discussion of how imaginary friends are related to the creation of characters in fiction writing is informed by interviews with renowned authors including Philip Pullman, Sue Grafton, and P. D. James. Taylor and Aguiar also look ahead to address the future of research on imaginary friends, including relationships with artificial intelligence and the role of imaginary friends in coping with trauma, while dispelling the myths about imaginary friends and the people who create them.

By: Marjorie Taylor (Professor Emerit of Psychology Professor Emerit of Psychology University of Oregon), Naomi R. Aguiar (Associate Director of Research, Associate Director of Research, Oregon State University Ecampus)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 157mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 372g
ISBN: 9780190888886
ISBN 10: 0190888881
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 07 April 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chapter 1: What is an imaginary friend and how many children have them? Chapter 2: Imaginary friends who are invisible Chapter 3: Imaginary friends who are personified objects Chapter 4: Children who create imaginary friends: Individual characteristics Chapter 5: Children who create imaginary friends: The influence of family and culture Chapter 6: Why do children create imaginary friends? Chapter 7: Do imaginary friends help children cope with adversity? Chapter 8: Do children think their imaginary friends are real? Chapter 9: What happens to the imaginary friends created in early childhood? Chapter 10: Paracosms: The imaginary worlds of middle childhood Chapter 11: Parasocial relationships with celebrities and media characters Chapter 12: The imaginary friends of adults Chapter 13: Adult fiction writers and their characters Chapter 14: Final thoughts: Fantasy in the lives of children and adults Bibliography

Marjorie Taylor is Professor Emerit of Psychology at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on the development of imagination and creativity, including studies of young children who invent pretend friends, older children who create imaginary worlds, and adult fiction writers who develop relationships with the characters in their novels. Her previous works include Imagination Companions and the Children Who Create Them and she was the Editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Imagination. Naomi R. Aguiar is the Associate Director of Research in the Research Unit at Oregon State University Ecampus. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Oregon and served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Children's Digital Media Center at Georgetown University. Aguiar's research investigates children's concepts of real and imaginary others, including real-life peers, imaginary friends, and artificially intelligent agents, as well as children's parasocial relationships with media characters.