Most children have wild imaginations, but sometimes pretend play takes a turn and the once wholesome act takes on a violent theme.
Although some parents may be concerned when their child make-believes fighting and killing, a new study suggests it is actually their way of ‘rehearsing’ for a real-world scenario.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge found the pretend aggression tend to surface when a child’s playmate is considered to be bad-tempered by their peers.
The team speculates that these scenarios arise in an attempt to stop playmates becoming angry by giving them a pretend situation in which to ‘let off steam’, or simply to keep them playing by appealing to their nature.
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Although some parents may be concerned when their child make-believes fighting and killing, a new study suggests it is actually their way of ‘rehearsing’ for a real-world scenario. Researchers from the University of Cambridge found the pretend aggression tend to surface when a child’s playmate is considered to be bad-tempered by their peers
Researchers observed more than 100 children in China while they were at school – all of which were asked to play in pairs.
Children partnered with another that was deemed to be bad-tempered by their peers were 45 percent more found to introduce aggressive themes while playing than those with partners who are known to control their aggression.
However, the team found that the child’s temperament did not set the stage for level of pretend aggression.
These children took it upon themselves to introduce the theme during playtime, which the researchers say suggest certain cases aggressive make-believe play actually helps children’s social and emotional development.
Dr Zhen Rao, from the University of Cambridge, said: ‘If children have a friend who is easily angered, and particularly if they haven’t coped well with that behavior, it’s possible that they will look for ways to explore it through pretend play.’
‘This gives them a safe context in which to try out different ways of handling difficult situations next time they crop up in real life.’
For a second part of their investigation, the team set out to ‘understand how far aggressive pretend play is associated with a play partner’s anger expression,’ researches shared in a statement.
The team speculates that these scenarios arise in an attempt to stop playmates becoming angry by giving them a pretend situation in which to ‘let off steam’, or simply to keep them playing by appealing to their nature
‘It also distinguished between aggressive pretend play and its ‘non-aggressive, negative’ variant: for example, pretend play that involves imagining someone who is sick or unhappy.’
Another group of 104 children at a school in China were asked to pair up with another classmate, which most chose a friend for this activity.
Each group was given toys, but none were modeled after weapons, and children were told they could play with them however they prefer – all were recorded playing for a total of 20 minutes.
Researches then organized the samples into pretend play, aggressive themes and non-aggressive negative themes.
Separately, they also asked peers to rate the children’s tendency to become angry. Each of the 104 children in the study was rated by, on average, 10 others, who were asked to decide whether they were good at keeping their temper, easily angered, or ‘somewhere in between’.
The results showed that, on average, pretend play was conducted just about a fifth of the recorded session.
Approximate 10 percent involved aggressive themes and eight percent had non-aggressive negative themes.
Pretend play was observed in all children.
About 53 percent showed at least one instance of aggressive pretend play, and 43 percent of the children showed at least one instance of negative pretend play.
And the team found that the children’s own ability to control their temper, as noted by their peers, did not predict how much aggression was brought into pretend play.
However, if a child was playing with someone considered to be bad-tempered, they were 45 percent more likely to imagine a scenario with a violent element.T
here was no evidence to suggest that either child’s temperament influenced the frequency of non-aggressive, negative pretend play.
The researchers also found that boys were 6.11 times more likely to engage in aggressive pretend play than girls.
The team theorizes it may represent an attempt to stop playmates becoming angry by giving them a pretend situation in which to ‘let off steam’, or simply to keep them playing by appealing to their nature.
‘Our study highlights the importance of taking into account a social partner’s emotional expression when understanding aggressive pretend play,’ Rao added.
‘Further research is clearly needed to help us better understand this in different social contexts.’
‘The possibility that children might be working out how to handle tricky situations through pretend play suggests that for some children, this could actually be a way of developing their social and emotional skills.’