Two studies showed that adults who reported having an imaginary companion as a child differed from adults who did not on certain personality dimensions. The first yielded a higher mean on the Gough Creative Personality Scale for the group who had imaginary companions. Study 2 showed that such adults scored higher on the Achievement and Absorption subscales of Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The results suggest that some differences reported in the developmental literature may be observed in adults.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmesL., & LearnedJ. (1946) Imaginary companions and related phenomena. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 69, 147–167.
2.
BernsteinE. M., & PutnamF. W. (1986) Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 727–735.
3.
BouldinP., & PrattC. (1999) Characteristics of preschool and school-age children with imaginary companions. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 160, 397–410.
4.
DavisM. H. (1983) Individual differences in empathy: evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.
5.
DominoG. (1970) Identification of potentially creative persons from the Adjective Check List. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35, 48–51.
6.
GiesbrechtT.LynnS. J.LilienfeldS. O., & MerckelbachH. (2008) Cognitive processes in dissociation: an analysis of core theoretical assumptions. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 617–647.
7.
GiesbrechtT.MerckelbachH.KaterM., & SluisA. (2007) Why dissociation and schizotypy overlap: the joint influence of fantasy proneness, cognitive failures, and childhood trauma. Journal of Mental and Nervous Disease, 195, 812–818.
8.
GleasonT. R.JarudiR. N., & CheekJ. M. (2003) Imagination, personality, and imaginary companions. Social Behavior and Personality, 31, 721–738.
9.
GoughH. R. (1979) A creative personality scale for the Adjective Check List. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1398–1405.
10.
HoffE. (2005) Imaginary companions, creativity, and self-image in middle childhood. Creativity Research Journal, 17, 167–180.
11.
KlingerE.HenningV. R., & JanssenJ. M. (2009) Fantasy-proneness dimensionalized: dissociative component is related to psychopathology, daydreaming as such is not. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 506–510.
12.
ManosevitzM.FlingS., & PrenticeN. M. (1977) Imaginary companions in young children: relationships with intelligence, creativity, and waiting ability. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18, 73–79.
13.
MauroJ. (1991) The friend that only I can see: a longitudinal investigation of children's imaginary companions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer. of Oregon, Eugene.
14.
MerckelbachH.HorselenbergR., & MurisP. (2001) The Creative Experiences Questionnnaire (CEQ): a brief self-report measure of fantasy proneness. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 987–995.
15.
MyersW. A. (1979) Imaginary companions in childhood and adult creativity. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 48, 292–307.
16.
NageraH. (1969) The imaginary companion: its significance for ego development and conflict solution. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 24, 165–195.
17.
PartingtonJ., & GrantC. (1984) Imaginary playmates and other useful fantasies. In SmithP. (Ed.), Play in animals and humans. New York: Basil Blackwell. Pp. 217–240.
18.
PearsonD.RouseH.DoswellS.AinsworthC.DawsonO.SimmsK.EdwardsL., & FaulconbridgeJ., (2001) Prevalence of imaginary companions in a normal child population. Child: Care, Health, and Development, 27, 13–22.
19.
RobyA. C., & KiddE. (2008) The referential communication skills of children with imaginary companions. Developmental Science, 11, 531–540.
20.
RocheS. M., & McConkeyK. M. (1990) Absorption: nature, assessment, and correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 91–101.
21.
SchaeferC. E. (1969) Imaginary companions and creative adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 1, 747–749.
22.
Seiffge-KrenkeI. (1993) Close friendship and imaginary companions in adolescence. New Directions for Child Development, 60, 73–87.
23.
Seiffge-KrenkeI. (1997) Imaginary companions in adolescence: sign of a deficient or positive development. Journal of Adolescence, 20, 137–154.
24.
SingerD. G., & SingerJ. L. (1990) The house of make believe: children's play and the developing imagination. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer. Press.
25.
SingerJ. (1961) Imagination and waiting ability in young children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29, 396–413.
26.
SmithJ. M., & SchaeferC. E. (1969) Development of a creativity scale for the adjective Check List. Psychological Reports, 25, 87–92.
27.
SvendsenM. (1934) Children's imaginary companions. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 32, 985–999.
28.
TaylorM. (1999) Imaginary companions and the children who create them. New York: Oxford Univer. Press.
29.
TaylorM., & CarlsonS. (1997) The relation between individual differences in fantasy and theory of mind. Child Development, 68, 436–455.
30.
TaylorM.HodgesS. D., & KohanyiA. (2003) The illusion of independent agency: do adult fiction writers experience their characters as having minds of their own?Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 22, 361–380.
31.
TellegenA. (1982) Brief manual for the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, Univer. of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
32.
TellegenA. (1992) Note on structure and meaning of the MPQ Absorption Scale. Unpublished manuscript, Univer. of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
33.
TorranceP. E. (1969) Curiosity of gifted children and performance on timed and untimed tests of creativity. Gifted Child Quarterly, 13, 155–158.
