Abstract
This project examines friendship development by identifying behaviors that young children associate with friendship and comparing whether those behaviors match what adults in an enduring friendship recall about the beginnings of their friendships. To examine these questions, young children at a child care facility were interviewed about friendship and 95 adults in enduring friendships identified critical incidents from the beginnings of their friendships. The results not only support past research about what friends mean to young children; but also identifies the ability children have to make distinctions among the many individuals who play with them to be able to label a special person as a “best friend.” The project proposes that whether childhood friendships become enduring friendships is based on the opportunities the children have to remain friends. It is suggested the opportunity to remain friends is one that can be enhanced by parents and early childhood programs.
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