About Friendship

Friendship has many forms and shapes and many times has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships. After a romantic relationship, friendships are the most important relationships we can have. While many friendship studies focus on the intense relationships of women and its positive effects, some research shows that men can benefit too.

"People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to," said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. "Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better."

People form friendships for pleasure - they enjoy another person's company and participate in pleasurable activities. Yet Artistotle felt that relationships based on pleasure should not be called friendships at all because friendships should be based on feeling good will toward each other and wishing good things for each other.

Everyone wants a true friend, and many of us believe that we have one. It's not unusual for close friendships endure through school, including college, marriage, long distance moves, divorce and other crises. A true friend is more than a very good friend. A true friend will support you even if it hurts his or her own interest and not expect anything in return. A true friend will understand your motives and needs and will be with you without any analysis or criticism. A true friend will come forward to help without a request.

It is believed that for true friendship to exist a person must demonstrate the following characteristics on a consistent basis:

1. Honesty, including situations where it may be difficult to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart;
   
   
2. Sympathy and empathy;
   
   
3. The tendency to desire what is best for the other person;
   
   
4. The ability to go to each other for emotional support;
   
   
5. Trust in one another and the ability to express feelings, including in relation to the other's actions, without the fear of being judged or abandoned;
   
   
6. Mutual understanding and compassion;
   
   
7. Positive reciprocity or a relationship based on equal give and take between the two parties.