Imaginary Friends, Revealed
Written By Rachel Simpson
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Myth: A small fraction of kids have imaginary friends.
Reality: It's much more widespread than you'd think.
Taylor found that 65% of children in the study up to age 7 reported having imaginary friends at some point in their young lives. This was much higher than was anticipated. Okay, so do the math: The most recent U.S. census (from 2000) tallies 23,652,523 children between the ages of 2 and 7. Using the two-out-of-three yardstick, that means there could be 16 million imaginary friends in our midst. If only they counted as tax deductions!
Myth: Introverts are more apt to have imaginary friends.
Reality: Nope, extroverts are.
Okay, this myth was busted prior to the 2004 study. But it's worth noting. In 1990, the authors of "The House of Make-Believe" — Yale's Dorothy G. Singer, now a senior research scientist, and Jerome L. Singer, now a professor emeritus of psychology — reported that their research did not support the old axiom that imaginary friends are linked to shyness or maladjustment. As Taylor puts it: "The kids who are choosing to create imaginary friends tend to be more sociable and to have more friends than other children."
