Friendsplayanimportantpartinourlives,andalthoughwemaytakethefactoffriendshipforgranted,weoftendon’tclearlyunderstandhowwemakefriends.Whilewegetonwellwithanumberofpeople,weareusuallyfriendswithonlyaveryf
Friendsplayanimportantpartinourlives,andalthoughwemaytakethefactoffriendshipforgranted,weoftendon’tclearlyunderstandhowwemakefriends.Whilewegetonwellwithanumberofpeople,weareusuallyfriendswithonlyaveryfew---forexample,theaverageamongstudentsisabout6perperson.
Moreover,agreatmanyrelationshipscomeunderthegeneralterm“friendship.”Inallcases,twopeoplelikeoneantherandenjoybeingtogether,butbeyondthat,thedegreeofclosenessbetweenthemandthereasonsfortheirinterestineachothervarygreatly.
Atthebeginning,muchdependsonhowpeoplemeet,andongoodfirstimpressions.Aswegettoknowpeople,weconsiderthingslikeage,race,looks,economicandsocialstatus,andintelligence.Althoughthesefactorsarenotofthegreatestimportance,itismoredifficulttohaveagoodrelationshipwithpeoplewhenthereisabigdifferenceinageandbackground.
Wepayattentiontoactualbehavior,facialexpression,andthewayapersonspeaks.Friendswillstandclosertogetherandsoftvoicesalsoexpressfriendliness,anditisbecausetheymaygivethewrongsignalsthatshypeopleoftenhavedifficultyinmakingfriends.Afriendlylookwiththewrongfacialexpressioncanturnintoanunfriendlystare,andnervousnessmaybewronglyunderstoodasunfriendliness.Peoplewhodonotlookoneintheeyearenottrustedwhen,infact,theysimplydonothaveconfidence.
Somerelationshipsarearesultofargumentanddiscussion,butitisusualforclosefriendstohavethesameideasandbeliefs,thesameopinionsandinterests---theyoftentalkabout“beingonthesamewavelength.”Themorecloselyinvolvedpeoplebecome,themoretheydependononeanother.Peoplewanttodofriendsfavorsandhatetoletthemdown.Equally,friendshavetolearntomakeallowancesforeachother,toputupwithannoyinghabits,andtoacceptdifferencesinopinion.Imaginegoingonalongtripwithsomeoneyouoccasionallymeetforadrink!
Incontrastwithmarriage,therearenofriendshipceremoniestostrengthentherelationshipbetweentwopeople.Butthemutualsupportandunderstandingthatresultsfromsharedexperiencesandemotionsdoesseemtocreateacloseandlastingrelationship,whichcanovercomedifferencesinbackgr