Adultomorphism refers to our unfortunate tendency to interpret the behavior of young children as if they were mini-adults. While the structure of this word may seem ultra-complex at first glance (and makes the person who utters it look very intelligent!), its meaning is simplistic and concerns us all on a daily basis, parents and early childhood professionals alike!

No, the little human is not a miniature adult!

Adultomorphism refers to our unfortunate tendency to interpret young children’s behavior as if they were miniature adults. We call them provocateurs, perverts, manipulators, capricious, vicious, jealous, comedians, sadists, calculators… And the list goes on! We forget one essential point: although a young child’s behavior may be identical in every respect to that of an adult (for example, a child sticking out his tongue or winking), the intention behind it will be profoundly different.

Children’s and adults’ brains are incomparable

Why is that? Because their brains are incomparable. The mature adult brain possesses high-level cognitive functions. It is capable of understanding abstract statements, guessing what other people are thinking, regulating emotions, carrying out in-depth analyses of situations, remembering past events, anticipating what’s going to happen next, and so on. Young children, on the other hand, are not so well equipped! While his brain has enormous potential, it is unfortunately not mature enough to mobilize all these cognitive capacities. It will take time, lots of time, lots and lots of time, for them to reach the same level as adults (around 30 years – oh what a long time!).

« It’s SADIC! »

Often, when I try to explain what adultomorphism means to the public, in training or at a conference, I share an anecdote that I experienced myself in a nursery near Paris. While I was leading a meeting of the « babies » team, a professional from the « means » team came to me. She exclaimed: « Héloïse, come and see, something crazy has happened with the mediums! Intrigued, I follow her (and we interrupt the meeting). The colleague explains that just a few minutes ago, a little boy rode astride a little girl, flat on her back on the floor. He pulled her hair with his right hand, banged his head on the floor, and looked at the professional. « And then he smiled at me… He’s SADIC! » she said, dumbfounded. Dead silence. I look at her, speechless. Then I tell her that no, this child is not sadistic (perhaps he will be, but it’s still too early to tell!). I add that there would have been something to panic about if he’d been a 40-year-old man with a mature brain and all the cognitive equipment that goes with it. In the case of a two-year-old, we can only – at a pinch – wonder about the origin of this behavior.

We all – more or less – fall for it

The curious thing about this adultomorphism story is that we all fall for it. Whatever our profession, our age, our training, our qualifications, our experience with young children, our culture, whether we’re male or female… It makes no difference. We are predisposed to infer adult intentions to young children. Even if you’re convinced that little Louna isn’t provoking you when she looks you in the eye, part of you will tend to believe it anyway. And the more tired, excited or stressed you are, the more emotional you’ll become, the less rational you’ll be and the more likely you’ll fall into adultomorphism.

18-month-old Louna can no more provoke an adult than a rabbit can tell the time…

But where does the term « adultomorphism » come from? It’s derived from anthropomorphism (« human being » and « form »), i.e. the attribution of human characteristics and attributes to animals or objects. Examples include the ever-late white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, the wise Granny Leaf in Pocahontas or the cheerful chandelier in Beauty and the Beast! Finally, when we think that 18-month-old Louna is capable of deliberately provoking adults, it’s as if we thought that the little white rabbit was capable of telling the time and being afraid of being late! Seen from this angle, it suddenly seems more irrational… And yet! We accept that a rabbit can have a different worldview and way of thinking from our own. So why do we find it so hard to believe that 18-month-old Louna could also have a worldview and way of thinking different from our own? The debate remains open!