Friendship and Happiness: Across the Life-Span and Cultures

319 Pages·2015·3.81 MB·English

by  Melikşah Demir (eds.)

Friendship and Happiness
Melikşah Demir
Editor
Friendship and Happiness
Across the Life-Span and Cultures
Editor
Melikşah Demir
Department of Psychology
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff
Arizona
USA
ISBN 978-94-017-9602-6 ISBN 978-94-017-9603-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-9603-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014960236
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London.
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or
information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer Netherlands is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com).
Preface
This book is about the relationship between friendship and happiness across the
lifespan and in different cultures. Experts and leaders in the field have contributed
to this volume. Specifically, scholars from sixteen countries have not only provided
unique perspectives on the topic and reviewed the extensive literature but also pre-
sented data addressing the relationship between friendship and happiness in differ-
ent age groups across cultures. Why would anyone undertake such a project when
the robust association of friendship with happiness is well accepted by laypeople
and scholars? There are personal and empirical reasons.
Why do social scientists conduct studies on the topics they investigate? Although
there might be practical reasons behind their choice of research, I believe that most
scholars, if not all, have a cherished personal story behind their lines of research. I
have been studying the relationship between friendship and happiness since 2002
because I was curious to learn why my friendships make me happy. I remember
experiencing endless laughter, joy, and happiness when playing with my friends
as a kid, spending time with them and engaging in a variety of different activities
together while experiencing various levels of support, intimacy, loyalty, and valida-
tion as an adolescent, emerging, and young adult. Although we had disagreements
and quarrels that are typical of a friendship, we were able to overcome these chal-
lenges. I loved my friends and was a happy person, I believe, because of them. Soon
after taking my first course on psychology and learning about research methods, I
decided to become a researcher to understand how and why friendships are related
to happiness. I wanted to learn why my friends contribute to my happiness. This is
the personal story behind my research and this book.
I was as happy as a clam when I started my research on the topic more than a
decade ago. One of the well-accepted findings in the scientific literature on happi-
ness that is not disputed pertains to the robust association between friendship and
happiness. This is acknowledged by theorists, and has been highlighted in major
reviews of the literature and books in the field of Positive Psychology. Yet, my ex-
citement faced some serious challenges. With a few notable exceptions, the reviews
and books either clumped friendship with other interpersonal relationships when
discussing the friendship-happiness association or did not include empirical studies
in their reviews that specifically supported the association between friendship and
v
vi Preface
happiness. Those overcoming these issues did not focus on age or cultural differ-
ences and whether indices and types of friendships mattered when understanding
the relationship between friendship experiences and happiness. Also, a burgeoning
body of research has expanded the literature to all walks of life in the past decade.
During this time, the investigation of the friendship-happiness association has also
been observed in different cultures. Finally, although friendship and happiness as
separate topics have been eloquently studied in a variety of disciplines resulting in
numerous books, volumes, and handbooks, there was not a book dedicated only
to the relationship between friendship and happiness that could advance future re-
search on the topic. These were the empirical reasons why I undertook this project.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Esther Otten at Springer who
has made this project possible. Her enthusiasm and support are very much appreci-
ated. I also would like to thank Hendrikje Tuerlings for her great help in making this
book possible. I must acknowledge the support and humor of my friends throughout
the project, especially Sumner Sydeman, as I have missed many opportunities to
hike and hang out with him while working on this book on friendship and happi-
ness. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Sahar Razavi, for her never-ending
support, great stuffed pasta, and patience as I have worked on this project.
I would also like to thank to all of the contributors. I was a lucky and happy edi-
tor because of the professionalism displayed by the contributing authors. They were
not only enthusiastic about their chapters but also welcomed my comments and sug-
gestions as they finalized their chapters. I strongly believe that the chapters in this
volume will be a valuable source for friendship researchers in various disciplines.
I am proud of the chapters in this book not only because they represent top-notch
reviews of the literature but also present findings from various cultures.
This book is divided into three major parts. Part 1, “Perspectives on Friendship
and Happiness” focuses on the association of friendship with happiness from differ-
ent perspectives. Chapters in this part of the book not only focus on the meaning of
friendship and happiness but also emphasize why friends and friendship experiences
are related to happiness in the respective fields. In Chap. 1, Lynch explores the topic
from a philosophical perspective, highlights how philosophical concepts have influ-
enced the topics studied in the psychological literature, and suggests that friendship
and happiness share similar features. In Chap. 2, Greco, Holmes and McKenzie
provide a sociological approach to the topic and argue that the relationship between
friendship and happiness depends on the social conditions in which friendship is
experienced. Greco and her colleagues also underscore how a sociological perspec-
tive could enhance our understanding of the topic. Next, Lewis, Al-Shawaf, Russell
and Buss (Chap. 3) present an evolutionary account on the topic by focusing on the
functions of friendships. Lewis and his colleagues differentiate same- and cross-
sex friendships, highlight the costs and benefits specific to each type of friendship,
and propose evolutionarily inspired strategies to maximize the emotional benefits
one might accrue from these friendships. In Chap. 4, Saldarriaga, Bukowski, and
Greco offer a psychological perspective on the topic and argue that the friendship-
happiness association represents a bidirectional dynamic process. The authors also
Preface vii
provide directions for future research and emphasize the importance of interven-
tions that could be developed to enhance the well-being of individuals.
Part 2, “Friendship and Happiness Across the Lifespan” provides state-of-the-
art reviews of the literature across all walks of life and on relatively new lines of
research such as social media. Chapters providing a review of the literature in dif-
ferent age groups offer a brief historical context, theoretical bases, measures com-
monly used to assess the constructs, and a review of the existing literature, as well
as highlight the current limitations of the literature and suggest directions for future
research. In Chap. 5, Holder and Coleman review the literature on children and em-
phasize recent advances in the measurement of children’s well-being. The authors
also call for research on the relationship between imaginary friendships and hap-
piness among children. Next, Bagwell, Kochel, and Schmidt (Chap. 6) provide an
eloquent review on the topic in adolescence. Bagwell and her colleagues note the
limited empirical attention given to the friendship-happiness association in this age
group and provide specific directions for future research. In Chap. 7, Demir, Orthel,
Özdemir, and Özdemir review the topic, focusing on young adults, and show that
the associations of friendship quality and satisfaction with happiness were stronger
than that of friendship quantity, but the importance of friendship in this age group
is dependent on one’s relationship status. The next chapter (Chap. 8) by Fiori and
Denkla focuses on the topic among middle-aged adults and shows that friendship is
a robust correlate of happiness in this age group. However, Fiori and Denkla show
that this association might change depending on context and gender, and emphasize
the need to compare midlife adults of different ages as a potential moderator. In
Chap. 9, Adams and Taylor show that friendship experiences are positively associ-
ated with happiness in old age and argue that interventions focusing on ways to
continue or increase friendship in this age group could promote successful aging.
The reviews of the literature across the lifespan collectively support the idea
that friendship is related to happiness regardless of the ways the constructs were
assessed. However, these reviews did not focus on cross-sex friendship and friend-
ship in the social media as they relate to happiness. I decided to include the next two
chapters in this part of the book because they address these issues among adoles-
cents, emerging and young adults. In Chap. 10, Procsal, Demir, Doğan, Özen, and
Sümer review the literature on cross-sex friendship by highlighting its similarities
and differences from same-sex friendship and argue that cross-sex friendship is
related to happiness in light of past theoretical work. Across three studies, they con-
clude that cross-sex friendship quality is a robust correlate of happiness regardless
of the way happiness is assessed and the association is similar for men and women
in two different cultures.
In Chap. 11, Manago and Vaughn argue that social media produce what they
call a customized sociality that provides more control in one’s interactions favoring
one’s personal needs and preferences. Although the authors review studies showing
that social media use is related to happiness, the association is a complex one that
depends on the characteristics of the consumers and their reasons for using social
media.
viii Preface
Part 3, “ Friendship and Happiness Across Cultures” provides reviews and em-
pirical studies addressing the relationship between friendship and happiness in dif-
ferent cultures.
In Chap. 12, Willeto provides the first review in the literature on the topic among
Navajos by relying on biographies and available empirical studies. Willeto empha-
sizes the need for research that directly focuses on the roles of friendship experi-
ences in the happiness of Navajos. Next, Garcia, Pereira, and de Macedo (Chap. 13)
provide a review of the literature in Latin America. Garcia and his colleagues show
that friends and friendship experiences are considered as sources of happiness and
emphasize that research on the topic in this continent is in its infancy. The authors
also call for collaborations to enhance systematic research on the topic and highlight
the steps taken to achieve this goal in Latin America. In Chap. 14, Li and Cheng
review the associations of family relationships and friendships with happiness in
Western cultures and the Asian context. Although friendship is related to happiness
among Asians, Li and Cheng found that its impact is less salient, especially when
family relationships are taken into account, when compared to findings obtained in
Western cultures. The authors argue that this trend might change in the following
years due to changes in the family system in Asian societies. The rest of the chap-
ters in this section present recent empirical data on the topic in different age groups
across various cultures. In Chap. 15, Sümer investigates the roles of attachment to
mother and friendship in the life satisfaction of Turkish children. Sümer reports
that friendship quality, not conflict, explains additional variance in life satisfaction
above and beyond the influence of attachment to mother; friendship quality among
girls is related to higher levels of life satisfaction only at low levels of attachment
avoidance. In Chap. 16, Jose investigates the peer relations and happiness associa-
tion in a longitudinal study among New Zealand adolescents. Jose reports that posi-
tive peer relations predicted an increase in happiness one year later whereas initial
positive affect did not result in better peer relationships. In Chap. 17, Demir, Cui-
siner, and Khoury show that satisfaction of basic psychological needs in a same-sex
best friendship explain why friendship quality is related to happiness among college
students in France and Lebanon. In the last chapter of this book, Demir, Achoui,
and Simonek (Chap. 18) report that same-sex best friendship quality mediates the
relationship between perceived responses to capitalization attempts and happiness
among emerging adults in Algeria and Slovakia.
Flagstaff, Arizona 2013 Melikşah Demir
Contents
Part I Perspectives on Friendship and Happiness
Friendship and Happiness From a Philosophical Perspective .................. 3
Sandra Lynch
Friendship and Happiness from a Sociological Perspective ...................... 19
Silvana Greco, Mary Holmes and Jordan McKenzie
Friends and Happiness: An Evolutionary Perspective on Friendship ..... 37
David M.G. Lewis, Laith Al-Shawaf, Eric M. Russell and David M. Buss
Friendship and Happiness: A Bidirectional Dynamic Process .................. 59
Lina María Saldarriaga, William M. Bukowski and Carolina Greco
Part II F riendship and Happiness Across the Lifespan:
Reviews of the Literature
Children’s Friendships and Positive Well-Being ........................................ 81
Mark D. Holder and Ben Coleman
Friendship and Happiness in Adolescence .................................................. 99
Catherine L. Bagwell, Karen P. Kochel and Michelle E. Schmidt
Friendship and Happiness Among Young Adults ....................................... 117
Melikşah Demir, Haley Orthel-Clark, Metin Özdemir
and Sevgi Bayram Özdemir
Friendship and Happiness Among Middle-Aged Adults ........................... 137
Katherine L. Fiori and Christy A. Denckla
Friendship and Happiness in the Third Age ............................................... 155
Rebecca G. Adams and Emily M. Taylor
ix
x Contents
Cross-sex Friendship and Happiness .......................................................... 171
Amanda D. Procsal, Melikşah Demir, Aysun Doğan, Ayça Özen
and Nebi Sümer
Social Media, Friendship, and Happiness in the Millennial Generation ... 187
Adriana M. Manago and Lanen Vaughn
Part III Friendship and Happiness Across Cultures .............................. 207
Friendship and Happiness in Navajos (Bik’éí Diné Baa’ Hózhó) ............. 209
Angela A. A. Willeto
Friendship and Happiness in Latin America: A Review ........................... 225
Agnaldo Garcia, Fábio Nogueira Pereira and Maria Daniela Corrêa de Macedo
Family, Friends, and Subjective Well-being:
A Comparison Between the West and Asia ................................................. 235
Tianyuan Li and Sheung-Tak Cheng
The Interplay Between Attachment to Mother and Friendship
Quality in Predicting Life Satisfaction Among Turkish Children ............ 253
Nebi Sümer
How are Positive and Negative Peer Relations Related
to Positive and Negative Affect in Adolescents Over Time
in New Zealand? ............................................................................................ 275
Paul E. Jose
Friendship, Needs Satisfaction, and Happiness Among College
Students in France and Lebanon ................................................................. 291
Melikşah Demir, Frédérique Cuisinier and Brigitte Khoury
I am so Happy ‘Cause my Best Friend is There for me When
Things go Right: Friendship and Happiness Among Emerging
Adults in Algeria and Slovakia .................................................................... 305
Melikşah Demir, Mustapha Achoui and Jaromir Šimonek