FRIENDSHIP
The friend zone is a place where someone is restricted from rising up to the status of lover. Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many such bonds. Such features include choosing to be with one another, enjoying time spent together, and being able to engage in a positive and supportive role to one another.[2]
Sometimes friends are distinguished from family, as in the saying "friends and family", and sometimes from lovers (e.g., "lovers and friends"), although the line is blurred with friends with benefits. Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people.[1] It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept of friendship is restricted to a small number of very deep relationships; in others, such as the U.S. and Canada, a person could have many friends, plus perhaps a more intense relationship with one or two people, who may be called good friends or best friends. Other colloquial terms include besties or Best Friends Forever (BFFs).
In Western societies, friendships are one of the least prescribed close relationships, with no formal duties or legal obligations to one another.
4. It is not obligatory; two individuals choose to form a friendship with each other. It is typically egalitarian in nature. In fact, one of the primary goals and motivations of friendship is companionship. In addition, adolescent and adult friendships often perform other functions, such as serving as sources of emotional support and providing opportunities for self-disclosure and intimacy. It is almost always characterized by companionship and shared activities. It is a dyadic relationship, meaning that it involves a series of interactions between two individuals known to each other.
2. Unlike parent-child relationships, for instance, each individual in a friendship has about the same amount of power or authority in the relationship.
5. It is recognized by both members of the relationship and is characterized by a bond or tie of reciprocated affection.
3. Friendship is generally characterized by five defining features:
For example, school-age boys tend to be especially similar to their friends in aggressiveness. Children tend to form friendships with individuals who are similar to themselves in a variety of dimensions.
Some research suggests that there is greater similarity between friends on characteristics that are high in reputational salience. Coupled with the social and cognitive advances of middle childhood, spending time together with a friend may promote the development of shared intimacy—which frequently takes the form of shared secrets—and becomes a defining feature of friendship for children at this age. Children may spend more time with their friends outside the direct supervision of an adult. School-age children spend a great deal of time interacting with peers and thus are presented with many opportunities for extending the friendship skills they acquired in early childhood. Children at this age are developing increasing independence from their parents, and their relationships with friends may be somewhat less dependent on parental involvement than was the case in preschool. Middle childhood
Friendships make up an important aspect of development in middle childhood, when much time is devoted to social play and social interaction skills become increasingly important.
Both youths and adults have a tendency to form friendships with others who are similar to them. Phases of friendship: formation, maintenance, and dissolution
Across individuals of all ages, friendships form, evolve, and sometimes dissolve over time. During this phase individuals engage in interactions to get to know each other and to forge the affective bond that characterizes a friendship. The length and duration of the various phases of a friendship vary across individuals and circumstances.
The formation phase of a friendship is the transition from strangers to acquaintances to friends. Even young children are attracted to peers of the same age and sex. As people enter adolescence and adulthood, similarity in terms of attitudes, values, and beliefs, as well as shared interests and activities, may be the basis for forming friendships. Similarity in terms of behavioral characteristics and activity preferences becomes increasingly important by middle childhood. Adults are even more likely than youths to form friendships with individuals who are similar to themselves in terms of variables such as gender, age, race, and social status.
In part, this occurs because friendships involve mutual socialization, meaning that friends become more similar to one another over time, perhaps by actively seeking to emulate qualities in their friends or by trying to strengthen friendships by emphasizing similarities. Thus, having a friend who is deviant or antisocial is likely to foster deviant or antisocial behavior. It is equally true that individuals select friends who are similar to themselves. Although friendships are typically thought to have a positive influence on socioemotional adjustment, it is not just having or not having friends that plays a part in individuals’ well-being. For instance, one important determinant of adolescents’ use of alcohol and drugs is substance use by their close friends. In other words, individuals who use drugs are likely to seek out other peers who use drugs. Adolescents who have close friends who use alcohol or drugs are more likely to use such substances themselves. The specific effects of friendship on adjustment vary as a function of who the friend.
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