Chapter 6: Interpersonal Communication
The Value of Friendships
- Friendships contribute to our well-being and greatly assist in helping people reach their
highest levels of well-being.
- Friendships are generally based on shared activities or the level of information
exchanged with others.
- As people mature, communication of private information gains importance.
- Friendships are not dormant, it is as ever-changing as time moves forward.
- Friendships can be affected by psychological predispositions.
- Friendships are defined differently depending on the culture. Collectivist cultures have
friendships that tend to be more intimate but have fewer bonds.
Example: Attachment styles
- A friend with a secure attachment style has low levels of conflict while friends with a non-
attachment style will have higher levels of conflict.
How do friendships develop?
Stage 1: Role-limited interactions, polite and careful with disclosures.
Stage 2: Friendly relations occur as they determined they have mutual interests/common
ground.
Stage 3: Going towards a friendship as they are now able to plan meet-ups and discuss more
personal topics.
Stage 4: Nascent friendship, they both think of each other as friends and established their
private ways of interaction.
Stage 5: A stabilized friendship as each individual is established in the other’s lives.
Stage 6: The waning stage, where friends drift apart and their friendships fade away.
The Value of Friendships
- Friendships contribute to our well-being and greatly assist in helping people reach their
highest levels of well-being.
- Friendships are generally based on shared activities or the level of information
exchanged with others.
- As people mature, communication of private information gains importance.
- Friendships are not dormant, it is as ever-changing as time moves forward.
- Friendships can be affected by psychological predispositions.
- Friendships are defined differently depending on the culture. Collectivist cultures have
friendships that tend to be more intimate but have fewer bonds.
Example: Attachment styles
- A friend with a secure attachment style has low levels of conflict while friends with a non-
attachment style will have higher levels of conflict.
How do friendships develop?
Stage 1: Role-limited interactions, polite and careful with disclosures.
Stage 2: Friendly relations occur as they determined they have mutual interests/common
ground.
Stage 3: Going towards a friendship as they are now able to plan meet-ups and discuss more
personal topics.
Stage 4: Nascent friendship, they both think of each other as friends and established their
private ways of interaction.
Stage 5: A stabilized friendship as each individual is established in the other’s lives.
Stage 6: The waning stage, where friends drift apart and their friendships fade away.
