Friendships and Adaptation Across the Life Span

Authors: Willard W. Hartup¹; Nan Stevens²

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 8, Number 3, June 1999 , pp. 76-79(4)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

Friends foster self-esteem and a sense of well-being, socialize one another, and support one another in coping with developmental transitions and life stress. Friends engage in different activities with one another across the life span, but friendship is conceived similarly by children and adults. Friends and friendships, however, are not all alike. The developmental significance of having friends depends on the characteristics of the friends, especially whether the friends are antisocial or socially withdrawn. Outcomes also depend on whether friendships are supportive and intimate or fractious and unstable. Among both children and adults, friendships have clear-cut developmental benefits at times but are mixed blessings at other times.

Keywords: Friendships; Life-span development; relationships

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/1467-8721.00018

Affiliations: 1: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

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