People
love to look back on their childhood - it truly is a magical, special time of
wonder and excitement. Our imaginations ran wild and we could have the best
time in the world running around the backyard! No doubt toys play a big part in
our childhood, and many adults actually maintain a relationship with their
teddy bears - some being more significant than they did when they were kids!
These cuddly companions have kept their charm into adulthood for many people,
many of whom find such comfort in their childhood toys that the friendship has
outlasted real world relationships. What is the reason that we can’t bear to
ditch teddy?
It
is estimated that around a third of all adults still sleep with their childhood
teddy bears, and the average age of their cuddly toy being 27 years old! A
comforting, soft toy friend makes sense in a time of short relationships, high
divorce rates and stress. In a recent poll of 6,000 adults, the findings went
as far to suggest that as much as 25% of men took their teddy bear away with
them on business as it reminded them of home, which is quite an astonishing
statistic (and one that we’re sure many others would rather not divulge)!
For
many people, this may seem to be a relatively high proportion of adults with
teddy bears. But to some degree we can all understand the comfort they bring.
Studies show that for many of these people, soft toys remind them of home and
of being young, plus there’s something about the feeling of cuddling a furry
little bear on a cold winter’s night. Human nature craves such feelings of
security, peace and comfort, and teddy bears are the triple threat (so to
speak) in one cute package.
If
you are a non-teddy bear owning adult and wish to rekindle your childhood
friendship with a little furry friend, don’t be hesitant. In a recent study by
the University of West Scotland, published in the Journal of Adult Development,
findings showed that adults who owned teddy bears didn’t show signs of
immaturity or of deeper complex issues in a sample of typical adults. The
statistics suggest that whilst many people assume that owning a toy animal is
an indicator of the owners’ immaturity, this is clearly not the case.
The
study showed that there is ‘no association of adult toy ownership with emotion
regulation and immaturity’, so adults shouldn’t feel silly for hanging onto
their childhood companions. Teddy bear ownership in adults reflects a normal,
healthy and much cherished childhood, which is all positive!
