Transformations in Friend Relationships across the Transition into Adulthood

Transformations in Friend Relationships across the Transition into Adulthood

Intimate exchanges of self-disclosure and support represent the central features of friendship during adolescence and young adulthood (Berndt, 1982; Buhrmester & Furman, 1987; Fehr, 2004). Through intimate conversations, best friends share their secrets, problems, and feelings, as well as provide each other with validation and emotional support. Indeed, there is considerable research demonstrating that close [Page 92]friends are among the most common partners adolescents and young adults turn to when distressed (Fraley & Davis, 1997; Trinke & Bartholomew, 1997) and that receiving social support from friends has important implications for multiple domains of individual and social adjustment (Friedlander, Reid, Shupak, & Cribbie, 2007). Given the significance of intimate friendships, it is not surprising that the dynamics and development of friendship have attracted considerable attention from both developmental and social psychologists.

Existing studies on adolescent and young adult friendships are broadly organized by two approaches: (1) developmental and (2) individual differences. Researchers who adopt a developmental approach are typically interested in how and why intimate friendship changes over the course of adolescence and young adulthood. This body of literature focuses on developmental changes in perceived closeness and intimacy, self-disclosure, and social support that occur in friendships over time. Developmental research also emphasizes that the developmental changes that occur in friendships over time are partially explained by changing social needs and involvement in different relational roles. Researchers who adopt an individual differences approach, in contrast, are typically interested in the different levels of disclosure and support/validation that occur between friends, as well as the behavioral interdependence of disclosure and support in friendships. Together, the developmental and individual differences approaches offer distinctive, yet complementary perspectives on friendship intimacy in adolescence and young adulthood by addressing the overall changes that typically occur in adolescent friendships as well as the interactions that occur between the specific individuals in a friendship.

The focus of this chapter is on intimate friendships during adolescence and early adulthood (Arnett, 2000; Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006), where friendship intimacy is broadly defined as subjective perceptions of closeness and intimacy, as well as the intimate behavioral exchanges of self-disclosure and coping/support (Reis & Shaver, 1988). The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section outlines the major theories that pertain to the development of and individual differences in friendship intimacy during adolescence and young adulthood. The second section highlights existing research that resides within the developmental and individual differences frameworks. Last, the third section provides suggestions for future directions in friendship research based on existing approaches.