Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They often have elaborate personalities and behaviors. They may seem real to their creators, though they are ultimately unreal, as shown by studies.^[1] The first studies focusing on imaginary friends are believed to have been conducted during the 1890s.^[2]

Imaginary friends are made often in childhood, sometimes in adolescence, and rarely in adulthood. They often function as tutelaries when played with by a child. They reveal, according to several theories of psychology, a child's anxieties, fears, goals and perceptions of the world through that child's conversations. They are, according to some children, physically indistinguishable from real people, while others say they see their imaginary friends only in their heads. There's even a third category of imaginary friend recognition: when the child doesn't see the imaginary friend at all, but can only feel his/her presence. Imaginary friends are more often seen as abnormal in adults, whereas quite common in children.

Purposes[link]

It has been theorized that children with imaginary companions may develop language skills and retain knowledge faster than children without them, which may be because these children get more linguistic practice while carrying out "conversations" with their imaginary friends than their peers get.^[3]

Kutner (n.d.) holds that:

Imaginary companions are an integral part of many children's lives. They provide comfort in times of stress, companionship when they're lonely, someone to boss around when they feel powerless, and someone to blame for the broken lamp in the living room. Most important, an imaginary companion is a tool young children use to help them make sense of the adult world.^[4]

Taylor, Carlson & Gerow (c2001: p. 190) hold that:

...despite some results suggesting that children with imaginary companions might be superior in intelligence, it is not true that all intelligent children create them.^[5]

A long-time popular misconception is that most children dismiss or forget the imaginary friend once they begin school and acquire real friends. According to one study, by the age of seven, sixty-five percent of children report that they have had an imaginary companion at some point in their lives.^[6] Some psychologists^[who?] have suggested that children simply retain but stop speaking about imaginary friends, due to adult expectations and peer pressure. Still, some children report creating or maintaining imaginary friends as pre-teens or teenagers. Few adults report having imaginary friends. Dr. Benjamin Spock believed that imaginary friends past age four indicated that something was "lacking" in the child or his environment. Some child development professionals still believe that the presence of imaginary friends past early childhood signals a serious psychiatric disorder.^[7][8] Others disagree, saying that imaginary friends are common among school-age children and are part of normal social-cognitive development.^[9]

See also[link]

• Paracosm
• Fictional universe

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dierker, L. C., Davis, K. F., & Sanders, B. (1995). 'The imaginary companion phenomenon: An analysis of personality correlates and developmental antecedents.' Dissociation: The Official Journal of the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation, 8, 220–228.
• Gleason, T. (2002). 'Social provisions of real and imaginary relationships in early childhood.' Developmental Psychology, 38, 979–992.
• Gleason, T., Sebanc, A., & Hartup, W. (2000). 'Imaginary companions of preschool children.' Developmental Psychology, 36, 419–428.
• Hall, E. (1982). 'The fearful child's hidden talents [Interview with Jerome Kagan].' Psychology Today, 16 (July), 50–59.
• Hurlock, E., & Burstein, M. (1932). 'The imaginary playmate: A questionnaire study.' Journal of Genetic Psychology, 41, 380–392.
• Manosevitz, M., Fling, S., & Prentice, N. (1977). 'Imaginary companions in young children: Relationships with intelligence, creativity and waiting ability.' Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18, 73–78.
• Manosevitz, M., Prentice, N., & Wilson, F. (1973). 'Individual and family correlates of imaginary companions in preschool children.' Developmental Psychology, 8, 72–79.
• Mauro, J. (1991). 'The friend that only I can see: A longitudinal investigation of children's imaginary companions' (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene, 1991). Dissertation Abstracts International, 52, 4995.
• Meyer, J., & Tuber, S. (1989). 'Intrapsychic and behavioral correlates of the phenomenon of imaginary companions in young children.' Psychoanalytic Psychology, 6(2), 151–168.
• Nagera, H. (1969). 'The imaginary companion: Its significance for ego development and conflict solution.' Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 24, 165–195.
• Partington, J., & Grant, C. (1984). 'Imaginary playmates and other useful fantasies.' In P. Smith (Ed.), Play in animals and humans (pp. 217–240). New York: Basil Blackwell.
• Imaginary Friends with Dr Evan Kidd podcast interview with Dr Evan Kidd of La Trobe University

Kina Grannis
Background information
Birth name	Kina Kasuya Grannis
Born	(1985-08-04) August 4, 1985 (age 26)
Genres	Acoustic Pop
Occupations	Guitarist Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar Vocals Ukulele Glockenspiel Piano
Years active	2001 – present
Labels	One Haven (2010–present) Independent (2009–2010) Interscope Records (2008)
Associated acts	David Choi, Boyce Avenue
Website	www.kinagrannis.com
Notable instruments
Taylor 814ce Taylor K22ce Cordoba 45-R Kamaka HF-2 Concert

Kina Kasuya Grannis (born August 4, 1985) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. She is half Japanese and half English, Irish, French, Scottish, Dutch and German.^[1] Grannis was the winner of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest.^[2] As a result of winning, she earned a recording contract with Interscope Records and had her music video played during the commercials of Super Bowl XLII.^[3] She recently won Best Web-Born Artist at the 2011 MTV O Music Awards.^[4]

Her progress in the competition was covered in The Orange County Register^[5][6][7][8] and The Wall Street Journal.^[9] Grannis has also been featured on FOX News Los Angeles, Good Day L.A. and Yahoo!.^[10][11]

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kina grew up in Mission Viejo, California, and it was here where her love for music began. In elementary school, she composed and submitted piano compositions to district art competitions. Soon afterwards, she began playing the violin, an instrument she would play throughout high school. By age 15, she started teaching herself the guitar and it was this instrument with which she fell in love.

She attended Viejo Elementary School, Newhart Middle School and from 1999 to 2003 Capistrano Valley High School.

Grannis enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles in 2003. Two years later, staff members of the University's Thornton School of Music asked her to produce an album in their music and music industry departments. That album, Sincerely, Me, was released the same year. In 2007, she graduated Summa Cum Laude in social science with an emphasis on psychology. While attending USC, she was inducted into academic societies Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.^{[citation needed]}

Solo career[link]

In 2006, Grannis recorded and self-released two more albums, One More in the Attic and In Memory of the Singing Bridge. In early 2007, she recorded "Ours to Keep" written by Rachael Lawrence and Deborah Ellen. This song would be featured regularly on General Hospital^[12] and was in an episode of the ABC Family's mini-series Samurai Girl in September 2008.^[13]

On November 14, 2007, she created her YouTube account and began posting videos of her songs online. Her first video, "Message From Your Heart," was entered into Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. The contest, which she won, landed her a contract with Interscope Records. Her YouTube videos have received more than 77 million views and have propelled her to become one of YouTube's most popular personalities. Grannis planned to work with Interscope Records to produce a new album but in January 2009, she announced that she was leaving the label to be an independent artist.

On February 24, 2008, Grannis sang the national anthem for the Auto Club 500 NASCAR race in Fontana, California. In June 2009 her songs "Never Never" and "People" were used in episodes of MTV's reality series College Life. On January 13, 2010 Grannis was the headliner at a sold-out show at The Troubadour club in Los Angeles.

Stairwells was released on February 23, 2010 and included many original songs already appearing on YouTube, as well as three previously unreleased songs: "World in Front of Me," "In Your Arms" and "Mr. Sun." Stairwells debuted at No. 139 on the Billboard 200,^[14] No. 5 on the Billboard Top Internet Albums chart, No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart,^[15] and No. 18 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.^[16] The location of her release party for Stairwells, the Dakota Lounge in Santa Monica, was the subject of an article in the Orange Country Register because the venue enabled her to show her gratitude to her fans.^[17]

On March 13, 2010, her single "Valentine" was played by Paul Gambaccini on BBC Radio 2, the most popular radio station in the UK.^[18] The music video for "Valentine" directed by a young and talented viral video director Ross Ching has been viewed well over 11 million times on YouTube. ^[19][20][21]

Grannis' Stairwells Springtime Tour began in San Francisco on May 24, 2010 and concluded in late June after several stints on the East Coast and in Canada. Her Fall Tour began on September 17, 2010 and concluded on November 17, 2010.^[22] On July 10, 2010 she played at Lilith Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.^[23]

In 2010, Grannis was featured as Judy in a miniseries by Wong Fu Productions entitled "Funemployed".^{[24][25][26][27][28][29]}

In early 2011, Grannis was awarded the title of Sirius/XM CoffeeHouse's 2010 Singer-Songwriter Discovery of the Year after a months-long online voting period. Her song "Heart and Mind" was used for the German TV series Anna und die Liebe.

On November 3, 2011, Grannis released a stop-motion music video for the single In Your Arms, using 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans. It took about 2 years to complete the project.^[30] The video accumulated over 1 million views within the first three days.^[31]

World in Front of Me Tour[link]

In April 2011, Grannis launched her first world tour. She performed in the eastern regions of Canada, continuing down the eastern and southern regions of the United States. She continued in May through the northwest region of North America back up to Vancouver British Columbia, and ending in Los Angeles. Shows in Europe and southeast Asia followed into the fall of 2011.

In Your Arms Tour[link]

It was announced that Grannis would perform a second tour in Europe followed by a tour of Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong) and Australia in 2012.

Personal life, Charity work[link]

Grannis has two sisters, Misa and Emi, both of whom have occasionally been featured in her video blogs, as well as accompanied her at certain concerts, often while on tour. Her father, Gordon, is a chiropractor.^[32] and her mother Trish a graphic designer. An avid supporter of cancer research, Grannis has performed at several Southern California Relay For Life functions over the years.^[33] In late 2007, she contributed her music to the Band Together: To Fight Measles benefit album.^[34] In October 2008, she participated in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco to support the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in honor of her mother, raising $6,000 for the organization. In 2009, the philanthropic organization Sister to Sisters adopted her song "Message From Your Heart." In 2012 she launched a charity project called Run Team Kina dedicated to the promotion of personal health and wellness and to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.^[35] In 2012, Run Team Kina raised $71,886 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Discography[link]

Songs in other media[link]

Television appearances[link]

• Good Day, LA (KTTV, Los Angeles) – February 5, 2008
• NASCAR California 500 (Fox, National) – February 24, 2008
• The Elliott Show (CBS, National) – June 19, 2010
• San Diego Living (XETV, San Diego) – September 14, 2010
• The Morning Show (WJXT, Jacksonville) – October 6, 2010
• Good Day (WOFL, Orlando) – October 8, 2010
• Featured in "Nice Guys" Music Video with Chester See, NigaHiga, and KevJumba - May 31st 2011
• Taratata (France 2, Paris - France) – November 9, 2011
• Ellen (Syndicated, National) – November 15, 2011
• E! News (E!, National)- November 22, 2011
• The Jimmy Kimmel Show (ABC, National)- January 12, 2012
• Channel News Asia AM LIVE! ( Singapore ) - March 20, 2012

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

dead link

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kina Grannis

• Official site