Invisible Playmate

Invisible playmate, also known as imaginary friend or invisible friend, is an interpersonal relationship which occurs in the imagination instead of the external reality. The invisible playmates are often imagined people but they can also be animals or abstract entities like angels. Having invisible playmates is normal for children and even for adults as long as they know that such friends are merely imagined. Around 65% of 7-year-old kids have invisible friends. Research on children suggested that the benefits of having imaginary friends include having an avenue to enact unexperienced events, fulfilling desire for connection, enhanced social skills, developing language skills, having comfort when lonely or stressed, enhanced creativity, and having moral guides. This social psychology phenomenon is more common among first borns or only children and girls.