AFA 2016

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FRIENDS AND TYPES OF FRIENDSHIP

Everyone has at least one best friend, some

maybe even more. There are also those people who are

just friends and also arch-enemies. People may think

that just because they are your friends it means that they

[5]  are your best friend. The thing is, even though they are

your friend, the relationship between a best friend and a

friend is different. Either way regardless of archenemies,

friends or best friends, there are not many

ways to compare any of these different types of friends,

[10]  but you can easily contrast them from one another.

Arch-enemies often know more about each

other than two friends. In a comparison of personal

relationships, friendship is considered to be closer than

association, although a wide range of degrees of

[15]  intimacy exists in friendships, arch-enemies, and

associations. Friendship and association can be thought

of as spanning across the same continuum. The study of

friendship is included in the fields of sociology, social

psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and zoology.

[20]   Even animals have familiars! Various academic theories

of friendship have been proposed, among which are

social exchange theory, equity theory, relational

dialectics, and attachment styles. In Russia, one typically

bestows very few people the status of “friend”.

[25]  These friendships, however, make up in

intensity what they lack in number. Friends are entitled

to call each other by their first names alone, and to use

diminutives. A customary example of polite behavior is

addressing "acquaintances" by full first name plus their

[30]  patronymic. These could include relationships which

elsewhere would be qualified as real friendships, such

as workplace relationships of long standing, or neighbors

with whom one shares an occasional meal or a social

drink with.

[35]  Also in the Middle East and Central Asia, male

friendships, while less restricted than in Russia, tend to

be reserved and respectable in nature. They may use

nicknames and diminutive forms of their first names. In

countries like India, it is believed in some parts that

[40]  friendship is a form of respect, not born out of fear or

superiority. Friends are people who are equal in most

standards, but still respect each other regardless of their

attributes or shortcomings. Most of the countries

previously mentioned (Russia, Asia, and even the Middle

[45]  East) and even our own nation are suffering a decline in

genuine friendships.

According to a study documented in the June

2006 issue of the Journal American Sociological Review,

Americans are thought to be suffering a loss in the

[50]  quality and quantity of close friendships since at least

1985. The study’s results state that twenty-five percent

of Americans have no close confidants, and the average

total number of confidants per citizen has dropped from

four to two. According to the study, Americans'

[55]  dependence on family as a safety net went up from fiftyseven

percent to eighty percent; Americans dependence

on a partner or spouse went up from five percent to nine

percent.

Recent studies have found a link between fewer

[60]  friendships, especially in quality, and psychological and

physiological regression. In the sequence of the

emotional development of the individual, friendships

come after parental bonding and before the pair bonding

engaged in at the approach of maturity. In the

[65]  intervening period between the end of early childhood

and the onset of full adulthood, friendships are often the

most important relationships in the emotional life of the

adolescent, and are often more intense than

relationships experienced later in life.

[70]  Unfortunately, making friends seems to trouble

many of people. Having no friends can be emotionally

damaging for all ages, from young children to full grown

adults. A study performed by researchers from Purdue

University found that post-secondary-education

[75]  friendships, college and university last longer than the

friendships before it. Children with Asperger syndrome

and autism usually have some difficulty forming

friendships. Socially crippling conditions like these are

just one way that the social world is so difficult to thrive

[80]  in. This does not mean that they are not able to form

friendships, however. With time, moderation and proper

instruction, they are able to form friendships after

realizing their own strengths and weaknesses.

There is a number of theories that attempt to

[85]  explain the link, including that; Good friends encourage

their friends to lead more healthy lifestyles; Good friends

encourage their friends to seek help and access

services, when needed; Good friends enhance their

friend’s coping skills in dealing with illness and other

[90]  health problems; and/or Good friends actually affect

physiological pathways that are protective of health.

Regardless of what we think, we can clearly see that

there are some ways that friends, best friends and archenemies

are the same, but in the end they are clearly

[95]  more different. Nonetheless we all have every single

type in our lives.

(Adapted from: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/therelationship- between-friends-and-types-of-friendship-philosophyessay. php)