Talking Animals, Different Worlds: Anthropomorphism Across Indiana Communities

Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Abbie Thompson

College

College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)

Discipline(s)

Psychology

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-30-2026

Abstract

Anthropomorphism, where human traits are assigned to non-human entities, is a prevalent theme in children’s literature. While entertaining, anthropomorphism influences how children think about animals and objects leading them to understand these entities in more unrealistic ways (Ganea et al., 2014; Waxman et al., 2014). This study investigates the frequency of anthropomorphism in children's books and explores whether there are differences between rural and urban areas in the types of books children read.

We gathered a dataset comprising the 100 most borrowed books from county libraries in 2023, aimed at children aged 0–5. We analyzed circulation data from three counties in Indiana: Vanderburgh, Porter, and Starke. Each book was categorized based on whether it featured human-like or anthropomorphized main characters (Wagner, 2017). Vanderburgh and Porter were considered urban counties, while Starke was regarded as rural.

A one-way ANOVA indicated a significant variation in anthropomorphism among the counties, F(2,185)=10.8, p< .001. Tukey post hoc tests confirmed that Starke County had a notably higher percentage of human characters compared to both urban counties (p< .001). No significant difference was found between Vanderburgh and Porter counties(p=.52).

While anthropomorphism was prevalent across all counties, it appeared less frequently in the rural county. This implies that a community's classification may shape the selection of books for young readers. Given the potential effects on children's understanding of the real world, caregivers, educators, and librarians should consider the representation of the main character when selecting early childhood literature.

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