Cultural and Contextual Predictors of Imagination in Early Childhood

• In Event: 1-142 - A Multicontextual Examination of Imagination in Development: Exploring Culture, Social Environment, Cognition, and Morality

Integrative Statement

Although research indicates there are individual differences in children’s preference for reality-based versus fantasy-based play (e.g., Pierucci et al., 2014), the underlying causes of these individual differences is less clear. Despite the fact that imagination and pretend-play are often regarded as milestones in children’s development (Lillard et al., 2011), engagement in imaginative activities and cognitions is discouraged among some groups of children. For example, we know highly imaginative thoughts, interests, and beliefs, such as children’s belief in fantastical entities are often discouraged in conservative religious populations (Carlson et al., 1998). Yet we do not know if this discouragement actually leads children to becomes less imaginative overall. Given the many social and cognitive benefits to engaging in imaginative cognitions and behaviors, determining what leads some children to be more imaginative than others is important. The present exploratory study examined how various cultural and contextual factors may impact a child’s propensity towards imagination.
Parents (N=210) with a child between the ages of 3-10 years participated in a nationwide survey distributed by Qualtrics. Participants completed several questionnaires, including the Child Imagination Questionnaire (alpha=.93; Gilpin et al., 2017), Creative Experiences Questionnaire (measure of parent imagination; alpha=.86; Merckelbach et al., 2001), Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (alpha=.86; Frick, 1991), and Social and Economic Conservativism Scale (alpha=.72; Everett, 2013).
Results indicate the factors that influenced a child’s propensity towards imagination varied based on religious context. Children’s imagination scores varied significantly by religious orientation, F(1, 188)=5.25, p=.02 (see Figure 1); scores were lowest among Jewish and Hindu/Buddhist individuals. Next, we tested a multi-group model (see Figure 2) using path analysis to assess whether religiosity moderated the pattern of associations. Among all religious orientations except Judaism, parental encouragement of imagination significantly predicted a child’s level of imagination (all Beta’s>.28, SE’s<.27, p’s<.02). The remaining paths varied based on religious orientation. Among Jewish individuals, parent’s level of imagination positively predicted a child’s level of imagination (Beta=.09, SE=.02, p<.01) whereas positive parenting negatively did so (Beta=-.16, SE=.03, p<.01). Similarly, among Hindu/Buddhists individuals, parental involvement positively predicted a child’s level of imagination (Beta=.06, SE=.02, p<.01) whereas degree of conservativism negatively predicted a child’s level of imagination (Beta=-.03, SE=.01, p=.02).
The present data suggest that imagination in childhood differs with respect to culture and context. Specifically, certain religious orientations appear to have lower rates of imagination than others. Although it is unclear what is driving these differences, preliminary analyses suggest the variations may be attributable to different attitudes towards fantasy among religious groups, F(4, 178)=3.65, p=.01. Qualitative responses from parents will be presented to further elucidate how parental attitudes may be influencing children’s imagination (e.g., “Believing in fantastical entities like fairies is not appropriate because it does not correlate with my religious beliefs”). Despite these differences, our results suggest that in populations where child imagination is generally discouraged, factors such as parental involvement and encouragement enhance imagination. Together, these findings improve our overall understanding of children's imagination and highlight what parents and teachers can do to help foster imagination among children from various backgrounds.

Authors

• Rachel Thibodeau, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author

• Melissa McInnis Brown, Texas Woman's University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Francisco Palermo, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author