“ÉL ME HACÍA ESPECIAL”: AMIGOS IMAGINARIOS, FUNCIONES Y ACTITUDES PARENTALES
Resumen
Los amigos imaginarios son una forma elaborada de hacer de cuenta, tan presentes en la vida cotidiana de sus creadores, que ellos pueden, incluso, asumir la función de hacer compañía. Las características de esas creaciones de fantasía, así como sus posibles funciones, fueron investigadas en una muestra de 18 niños entre 6 y 7 años (M = 85 meses; DP = 4,82; variación= 76 – 94 meses; 10 niñas y 8 niños) que poseían amigos imaginarios. Estos niños eran participantes de un estudio más amplio que pretendía comparar el desarrollo socio-cognitivo y del lenguaje de niños con (n= 18) y sin amigos imaginarios (n= 22). Para investigar las actitudes parentales con relación al fenómeno, los responsables de los participantes (de ambos grupos) del primer estudio fueron invitados a participar, siendo que 11 (10 madres y una abuela), aceptaron la invitación. Las características informadas de los amigos imaginarios fueron diversas (i.e., apariencia física, tipo, edad, cuánto tiempo son amigos) y sus funciones estaban asociadas a diferentes necesidades, como compañía, diversión o bienestar emocional. Aunque la mayoría de los responsables haya asociado el fenómeno al ejercicio de la imaginación, algunos creían que la experiencia podría representar problemas, como, por ejemplo, la pérdida de contacto con la realidad, o la influencia de entidades maléficas. Los resultados de la presente investigación son consistentes con los estudios internacionales. Se espera que estos resultados puedan contribuir para el avance de esta línea de investigación en el país.Descargas
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