The role of object features and emotional attachment on preschool children?s anthropomorphism of owned objects

Anthropomorphism is the tendency to treat non-human items as if they were human. Children 3-5 years (N =139) were tested on their anthropomorphism of two favorite toys from home, with both explicit judgments (e.g., think, feel happy) and behavioral interactions (e.g., resource dis-tributions). Parents reported on their child's object attachments and anthropomorphizing be-haviors at home. Children anthropomorphized objects with faces more than those without. Parents also reported that children attached to a toy with a face engaged in more anthropo-morphism in their behaviors at home than those without. On the lab-based task battery, attachment status did not predict overall levels of anthropomorphism, although differences did emerge in the predicted direction on a small number of tasks, for both face and no-face attach-ment objects. The results of this exploratory study are discussed with regard to the diverse nature of anthropomorphism in childhood, and the role of context in eliciting this perspective.

Automated summary

This study examined the tendency of 3-5 year old children to anthropomorphize their favorite toys from home and found that they were more likely to anthropomorphize objects with faces. Parent reports supported this finding by indicating that children who were attached to toys with faces engaged in more anthropomorphism at home.