Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Personality and paths to successful development: an overview
- Part I Temperament and emotion regulation
- Part II Formation of social relationships
- 3 Attachment relationships and appraisal of partnership: from early experience of sensitive support to later relationship representation
- 4 How do adolescents select their friends? A behavior-genetic perspective
- Part III Continuity in individual life paths
- Part IV Environmental contributions to personality development
- Part V Life transitions
- Part VI Personal goals and well-being
- Index
- References
4 - How do adolescents select their friends? A behavior-genetic perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Personality and paths to successful development: an overview
- Part I Temperament and emotion regulation
- Part II Formation of social relationships
- 3 Attachment relationships and appraisal of partnership: from early experience of sensitive support to later relationship representation
- 4 How do adolescents select their friends? A behavior-genetic perspective
- Part III Continuity in individual life paths
- Part IV Environmental contributions to personality development
- Part V Life transitions
- Part VI Personal goals and well-being
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Friendships serve important functions for both children and adults. Across the life-span, the dynamics of friendship are complex (Hartup and Stevens, 1997; 1999) and, as yet, poorly understood. Two observations are well established: an absence of friends characterizes those who seek clinical intervention for personal problems, and good adjustment is associated with having a social network of friends. It is less certain whether friends directly contribute to our well-being, or whether well-adjusted persons find it easier to make and keep friends. Regardless, friendships provide children and adolescents with experiences that facilitate growth of social competence, providing functions critical to development of self-concept and serving as resources of emotional support, buffering against life stress (Price, 1996). Indeed, recent evidence suggests that only for children without mutual best friends does victimization predict bad behavioral outcomes; peer friendships appear to be crucial in preventing escalating cycles of peer abuse (Hodges, Malone and Perry, 1997; Hodges, Boivin, Vitaro and Bukowski, 1999). Friendship relations are implicated in children's social and emotional growth, influencing children's school adaptations, adjustment to major life transitions, and the acquisition of social skills and values (Bukowski, Newcomb, and Hartup, 1996). The developmental significance of friendships includes who one's friends are, as well as the stability and quality of those friendship relationships across time. And, because the identity of one's friends accounts for more outcome variance than whether one has friends (Hartup and Stevens, 1997), it is important to study the qualitative features of friendship selection.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Paths to Successful DevelopmentPersonality in the Life Course, pp. 106 - 126Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002
References
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