What Isn't a Friend? Dimensions of the Friendship Concept

• In Event: 3142 - Open Topics on Social Psychology I

Abstract

This mixed methods study of a diverse population of adolescents in 8 school grades tests the argument that friendship is construed by respondents primarily as a role relation, against a conventional assumptions of directed-liking. Surveys and focus groups of 6th grade students in 4 schools suggest that they regard friendship as a complex multidimensional concept, best summarized as a mutual role relation embodying relational norms as well as (undirected) sentiments. We derive a set of 11 exemplary defining features of friendships from the focus groups (e.g., including liking as well as normative roles such as defending against others, supporting emotionally, never hurting or telling the respondents’ secrets). Follow-up surveys allow participants (N=441 6th graders in 6 school cohorts) to rank those 11 features. Analyses of these data reveal that friendship is not described well by one dimension, and that directed liking is relatively unimportant and isolated from other features. Respondents see friendship primarily as an agreement to obey relational norms. Liking is not relatively important (even so, they-like-me is surprisingly more important to defining friendship nominations than I-like-them ), nor is the volume of time spent together. Other modestly defining properties of friendship are reciprocity (calls me a friend), transitive closure (friends with my other friends or part of my group), and homophily (has a lot in common with me). Lastly, although boys and girls agree that relational norms are most important to defining friendship, they still differ systematically in their definitions of friendship. Girls are more likely to define friendship as someone who ‘likes me’or will never tell anyone my secrets’ whereas boys are more likely to define friendship as someone who ‘has a lot in common with me’ or ‘is friends with my other friends (part of my group).’

Authors

• James A. Kitts, University of Massachusetts

• Diego F. Leal, University of South Carolina