Imaginary companions in adolescence: sign of a deficient or positive development

Abstract

The present study was designed to find out to what extent imaginary companions are created in the diaries of adolescents. A total of 241 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years were investigated to determine the incidence as well as the characteristics and functions of such fictitious individuals in this age group. Content analysis of data obtained from questionnaires revealed that the imaginary companion was similar to the writer in many aspects. The imaginary companion supported the adolescent during the process of developing his/her identity. The relative influence of self-concept, creativity, role-taking ability, coping behavior, and egocentrism was then investigated using a hierarchical regression model. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) the deficit hypothesis, i.e. only adolescents with a deficit in social interaction create an imaginary companion, (2) the giftedness hypothesis, i.e. especially creative adolescents invent such a companion and (3) the egocentrism hypothesis, i.e. the construction of an imaginary companion is the result of perceived uniqueness and related to personal fable and imaginary audience behaviour. The results showed that the imaginary companion was not the result of an egocentric orientation, and by no means was a substitute for other trustworthy partners such as family members or friends. On the contrary, socially competent and creative adolescents with good coping abilities were particularly prone to create such a "very special friend".