This has to end: An explorative analysis of the strategies people use in order to terminate an undesirable friendship

Abstract

Not all friendships last a lifetime, and frequently, people choose to end them. The current research employed mixed-methods in order to identify the different strategies that people use in order to end an undesirable friendship, and the degree that the adoption of these strategies is predicted by personality. More specifically, Study 1 employed qualitative research methods on a sample of 225 Greek-speaking participants, and identified 43 acts that people would perform in order to end a friendship. Study 2 employed quantitative research methods on a sample of 469 Greek-speaking participants, and classified these acts into seven broad sub-strategies and three broader strategies for terminating an undesirable friendship. Participants indicated that they were more willing to use the “Gradual termination,” and less willing to use the “Immediate termination” strategy. Moreover, higher scorers in agreeableness indicated a higher willingness to use the former and a lower willingness to use the latter strategy than low scorers. Additionally, although there were some significant differences, women and men as well as participants in different age groups, were generally in agreement over which strategy they were willing to use.