Veraksa A.N. Imaginary friends: good or bad?

Veraksa A.N. Imaginary friends: good or bad? // Preschool Education Today. 2011, Issue 1 - p. 52-56.

This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

2011, 1

Aleksander N. Veraksa
Academician of the Russian Academy of Education, Dr. Sci. (Psychology), Professor, Head of the Department of Educational Psychology and Pedagogy, Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Head of the Laboratory of Child Psychology and Digital Socialization; Deputy Director of the Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract

Practical psychologists and preschool teachers often face parents’ questions about what to do if a child has imaginary friend. It is surprising that negative attitude towards this phenomenon of child life can be found as among protagonists of the materialist approach (for example, associative psychology), so among the protagonists of idealistic approach (for example, religious associations).

In this article causes of imaginary friends appearance are considered, as well as the functions they perform in the mental development of children are analyzed. The data showing no differences between children who have imaginary friends, and children who do nor have imaginary companions is provided.