Security blanket
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A security blanket is any familiar object whose presence provides comfort or security to its owner, such as the literal blankets often favored by small children. It is a comfort object and is also known as a "security object." The phrase "security blanket" was popularized in the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, who gave such a blanket to his character Linus van Pelt. Another term for security blanket is "wubby", which was popularized by the 1983 movie Mr. Mom. Also, in The Producers, Leo Bloom carries a security blanket and goes into a fit of hysteria when he is separated from it.
English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott spoke of transitional objects, which can be loosely translated as a security blanket.
The majority of the research with children on this subject was performed at the Psychology Department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee by Professor Richard H. Passman and his associates. Among other findings, they showed that security blankets are appropriately named -- that they actually do give security to those children attached to them. Along with other positive benefits, having a security blanket available can help children adapt to new situations, aid in their learning, and adjust to physicians' and clinical psychologists' evaluations. Dr. Passman's research also points out that there is nothing abnormal about being attached to them. About 60% of children in the United States have at least some attachment to a security object.
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