We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Scaring the Monster Away: What Children Know About Managing Fears of Real and Imaginary Creatures.
- Authors
Sayfan, Liat; Lagattuta, Kristin Hansen
- Abstract
Children around 4, 5, and 7 years old (N = 48) listened to scenarios depicting a child alone or accompanied by another person (mother, father, friend) who encounters an entity that looks like a real or an imaginary fear-inducing creature. Participants predicted and explained each protagonist’s fear intensity and suggested coping strategies. Results showed age-related increases in judgments that different people will experience different intensities of fear in the same situation. With age, children also demonstrated increasing knowledge that people’s minds can both induce and reduce fear, especially in situations involving imaginary creatures. Suggestions of reality affirmation strategies (e.g., reminding oneself of what is real vs. not real) significantly increased with age, whereas positive pretense strategies (e.g., imagining it is a friendly ghost) significantly decreased.
- Subjects
IMAGINARY companions; CHILD psychology; FEAR in children; FEAR of the dark; CHILD development; REALITY in children; THERAPEUTICS
- Publication
Child Development, 2009, Vol 80, Issue 6, p1756
- ISSN
0009-3920
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01366.x