A Criação de Amigos Imaginários: Uma Revisão de Literatura

Abstract

Pretend play is an important milestone in child development. Among the many forms that symbolic play can take, one stands out for its singularity: the creation of imaginary companions. The phenomenon has been associated with various positive aspects of development, however, there are very few Brazilian studies investigating this topic. The present research aims to contribute to this study field by presenting a systematic literature review on imaginary companions. The literature review was based on the analysis of indexed books and articles found in SciELO-Brasil, Index Psi, PePSIC, LILACS and PsycINFO databases, published between 1934 and 2013. In total, 46 national and foreign papers, published between 1934 and 2013, were found. The literature suggests that the creation of imaginary companions is associated with important gains, for example, in creativity, sociability and social cognition. Therefore, future directions for this line of research in the country are suggested.