The secret behind the comforting power of teddy bears
Scientists from the University of Montpellier, Paul Valéry University, Aix-Marseille University, the CNRS, the IRD, and the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) have investigated the secret behind the comforting power of stuffed animals. Through an innovative participatory experiment involving a thousand participants aged 3 to 72, and by studying the characteristics of hundreds of teddy bears, they showed that emotional attachment plays a much more important role in comfort than any other characteristic. The findings were published on January 30, 2023, in The Journal of Positive Psychology.
The teddy bear is a transitional object, providing comfort and security by replacing attachment figures, thereby helping children to better cope with the stress of separation. The teddy bear is the king of soft toys and has occupied an important place in Western homes since the early 20th century, even among adults.
A participatory study
During Researchers' Night 2019, a participatory study was conducted in 13 French cities to collect photographs and characteristics of several hundred teddy bears brought in by a thousand participants. Using a questionnaire, participants measured the physical, olfactory, and kinesthetic characteristics (softness, ease of handling, etc.) of the bears. They were then asked to compare the comforting power of their bear with eight other teddy bears. The operation was then repeated, using another bear with which the participants had no emotional connection.
A predominant emotional bond
Comfort scores were calculated for each bear, depending on whether they were evaluated by their "owner" or by another person. The results show that participants overestimate the comforting power of their bears, illustrating the strong effect of emotional attachment. In addition to this effect, the results also show a significant effect of softness, size, and the fact that the bears are pleasant to handle and look at. The comfort score was not related to the gender or age of the participants: the perception of comfort provided by a teddy bear does not change over the course of a lifetime and is not biased by gender stereotypes, unlike other objects associated with childhood (such as dolls or fire trucks).
Prior to this study, no research had specifically examined the characteristics taken into account when attributing this comforting power (size of the teddy bear, length of fur, diameter of eyes, etc.).
"This work opens up promising avenues for studying the psychological functioning of individuals through teddy bears, but above all, it suggests a form of predictability in their comforting power that could allow for expanding the list of uses, for example, in schools, hospitals, workplaces, during negotiations, and in crisis situations," concludes Thierry Brassac, scientific mediator at the University of Montpellier.