REBECCA G. ADAMS
(Friendship)-is a voluntary relationship between equals
Constellations in Which Friendships Occur:
(Group)-a bounded collectivity of people who share common interests,
interact with one another, and have a sense of identity with one another.
(Primary Group) - a type of group primary in linking the individual to society; those characterized by a predisposition to help, diffuseness, face-to-face interaction, permanence, and intimacy.
(Secondary Group)-characterized by casual, impersonal relationships, usually aimed a accomplishing a specific purpose.
(Dyad) is a two-person group.
(Social Network)-an unbounded set of people connected by a set of socially meaningful relationships.
(Personal Network)-those people directly connected to a central person (i.e., those people known by a central person
(Secondary Network)-consists of those people indirectly connected to the central person (i.e. known to people known by a central person).
Elements of Friendship Patterns:
(Internal Processes)-reflect the interactive aspects of relationships
and occur between the members of dyads and larger friendship groups.
(Affective Processes)-encompass emotional reactions to dyad and group members. They are the feelings that people have for each other.
(Behavioral Processes) are the action components of relationships. They are what people do together.
(Cognitive Processes)-are the thoughts each participant has about him or herself and the other members of dyads and larger groups. They are what people think about each other.
(Internal Structure)-the form of the ties linking people in relationships
(Hierarchy)-the vertical social distance between people in relationships
(Status)-the distance between actors in terms of stature, prestige, or moral worth
(Power)-the probability that one actor in a relationship will be able to carry out his or her will despite resistence
(Solidarity)-the horizontal social distance between people in relationships; in other words, it is the degree of closeness felt between those involved
(Homogeneity)-degree of similarity of participants in terms of social positions external to the relationship such as gender, race, occupational status, ethnicity, or age.
(Size of Network)-the number of people a central person knows
(Density)-the proportion of all possible ties between the members of a network that exist
(Phases of Friendship)-Friendships are dynamic relationships that develop an evolve over time. They have beginnings, middles, and endings. Change can occur abruptly or gradually, intentionally or without intent, voluntarily or involuntarily, and for external or internal reasons. Change is sometimes initiated by those involved or occurs by happenstance. The friendships in each stage theoretically involve different processes and structures.
(Friendship Formation)-involves movement of two or more people from strangers to acquaintances to friends.
(Friendship Maintenance)-is the phase between the formation and dissolution friendships.
(Friendship Dissolution)-is the phase during which friendships are ended.
Theoretical Explanations for Friendship Findings:
(Dispositional Explanations)-attribute differences in friendship patterns
to individual variation in personality, motives, and personal preferences
which result from socialization or heredity. Dispositions affect people's
preferences regarding relationships. Sociologists are most concerned with
how dispositions result from the socialization process.
(Socialization)-the process by which people learn to behave appropriately in the groups to which they belong
(Social Structural Explanations)-attribute differences in friendship patterns to variation in what social positions people occupy and the resulting difference in their access to power, prestige, and wealth. These differences in access result in different opportunities for and constraints on behavior and relationships.
(Contextual Explanations)-attribute differences in friendship to variations in the conditions external to the development, maintenance, and dissolution of specific friendships. In other words, differences are explained by those elements which surround friendships, but are not directly inherent in them, the extrinsic rather than the intrinsic.
(Cultural dimension of context)-all that participants in a context learn both to believe, value, think, and feel and to do, use, and produce.
(Temporal dimension of context)-when things happen, with what regularity, and how predictably.
(Spatial dimension of context)-the characteristics of the natural and built environment and the degree to which the contexts are territorially defined.
(Social structural dimension of context)-the number, density, and homogeneity of the participants; the social positions available to be filled; and the relationships of the social positions to one another.
Process Connecting Individual Characteristics and Friendship Patterns:
(Behavioral Motif)-consists of the constellation of both the routine
and unpredictable aspects of an individual's daily activities and her or
his responses to them. Individuals do what they are predisposed to do within
the structural opportunities and constraints that confront them.