Monday, December 13, 2004

Imaginary Friends Everywhere

According to researchers at the University of Washington and University of Oregon, two out of every three children has had an imaginary friend by age seven. My son, now 7, first started talking to his imaginary friend, named Purpit (don't ask, because I don't know) around age 3. He still talks to him now and then, but mostly on the phone. Apparently, Purpit has moved away. At least he's a good enough friend to call now and then, though. My own imaginary friends (I had two) haven't talked to me since I was four!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Got a little tired of reading research all day so decided to visit your personal pages! First of all I think your son is very cute. He is going to break quite a few hearts one day if he has't already.

You know one very peculiar thing that i have been noticing over the years is that somehow I havent come across too many children with imaginary friends here. Not a scientific observation i am afraid but i find my friends in the western countries talk about it more often than they do here....i wonder why... 

Posted by tanu

Anonymous said...

Thank you. He is cute, and he's already breaking hearts. He's got a girl who rides the bus with him who desperately wants him to be her boyfriend, and he keeps turning her down. I'm not sure why.

That is an interesting observation (about fewer imaginary friends for non-western children). I wonder if there have been any cross-cultural studies, and what explanations there might be if that is in fact what they found. Maybe we should do the study. 

Posted by Chris

Anonymous said...

Thats exactly what i thought but was scared to say!I think it will take same time before i regain some confidence.

I think I'll have to make the trip to the library and find out if there has been any work on this. Surprisingly, there is no online data available about the researches done here. Seems I'll have to sit and leaf through the last 40 years or so of journals.Some times it gets very frustrating the way system works here. Even getting a membership to university is going to be a painstaking task...wish me luck!  

Posted by tanu

Anonymous said...

Isnt it funny how I cant stop thinking about stuff from a research point of view!! I came here to unwind and read your personal blogs and I am all wired up again! 

Posted by tanu