Friendship Expectations Research Articles

Examining direct sales as a violation of friendship expectations on WeChat

Examining direct sales as a violation of friendship expectations on WeChat

The China Friendship traveller in the 1970s and the dilemma of propaganda: memory, emotional response and narrative

During the 1960s and 1970s, radicals from the west travelling to socialist countries in the 'Third World' tried to create an alternative pool of expertise, often with a utopian agenda. This leftwing tourism later became the subject of academic discussion and analysis. One prominent standpoint is that the travellers involved agreed with the propaganda to which they were subjected, or at least believed in it. Others regard the travellers' loyalty to the socialist country in question as a way of improving the prospects for hegemony within left organisations at home. Another view is that the travellers contained their criticism amongst themselves, while struggling with their experiences in the country in question. The aim of this text is to examine, through a case study, how travellers not tied up in any partybuilding struggles back home perceived and explained their experience in China, and how this experience was understood and interpreted – and reinterpreted – in hindsight. The study is focused on the Swedish social worker Elsa Larsson, who went to China in 1977. Her impressions and reflections were documented in a short film made with a small hand camera, in letters and notes, and in two speaker texts to her film, one from 1977 and one from 2005. The study shows that Larsson did harbour some scepticism about what was presented during her visit – but also that the expectations of friends and colleagues in Sweden were important in how she came to tell the story of her trip. This points to a more general picture, whereby the preconceptions of the traveller's own communities were of great significance in creating the western image of Red China, in addition to the Chinese state's own propaganda. The study contributes a tentative explanation as to why China as an alternative welfare society was so favourably received in Sweden (and in Europe) in the 1970s. When Larsson reinterpreted her material many years later she added in analysis of the problematic issue of how the travellers had in general failed to grasp the extent of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda. It seems that, in this later phase, it was important for Larsson to continue to create a frame for her experiences, rather than to uncritically adapt to any contemporary interpretation.

Tell Me about Loneliness: Interviews with Young People about What Loneliness Is and How to Cope with It.

Background: loneliness is a common experience for adolescents, yet the voices of adolescents are missing from current conceptualisations of loneliness. That means, measures that have been created based on current conceptualisations may miss important contexts of adolescence, such as the roles of friendships, that determine the way loneliness is experienced. The current study aims to centre adolescent voices to identify how they conceptualise loneliness and what strategies they consider to be useful for adolescents to cope with loneliness. Method: thematic framework analysis (TFA) was conducted on qualitative interviews with young people aged 8–14 years in Belgium and Italy to identify salient themes in their conceptualisations of loneliness. Results: Loneliness was conceptualised as a negative emotional state involving negative thinking patterns that occurs when an individual perceives they are missing out on a desired aspect in their social relationships. Coping strategies related to alleviating negative affect, and aiding social reconnection. Conclusions: friendships with peers were understood to be central to adolescent loneliness experiences. In line with that, loneliness was seen to be experienced at school. Age-related differences in friendship expectations were identified, highlighting how developmental needs relate to the loneliness experience.

Positive and negative uses of social media among adolescents hospitalized for suicidal behavior

There is public concern about potential associations between adolescent social media/smartphone use and risk for suicide. However, no prior studies leverage qualitative methods to explore the experiences of adolescents currently at-risk for suicide. This study examined social technology use from the perspectives of adolescents (n=30; Mage=16.1 years) currently hospitalized for a recent suicide attempt or severe ideation. We conducted in-depth interviews and coded transcripts using thematic analysis. We had three research questions: What (1) negative and (2) positive experiences do suicidal adolescents report related to their use of social media/smartphones? (3) How do adolescents describe their disconnection from these technologies use during inpatient hospitalization and views on a subsequent return to digital connectivity after discharge? Results reveal both positive and negative social technology uses, with most participants reporting mixed (positive and negative) experiences. Negatives/risks included trouble regulating use, stress related to social media metrics, encounters with "triggering" content, hostility and meanness, self-denigrating comparisons, and burdensome friendship expectations. Positives/benefits included social connection, social support, affect-enhancing content, shared interests, and resources for mental health and coping. Overall, the documented risks and benefits of social technology use correspond with established (offline) risk and protective factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Participants generally valued the break from social technologies during hospitalization, and also viewed them as integral to social re-entry and identified related concerns. Future studies should test well-being focused 'digital hygiene' interventions for maximizing potential benefits and minimizing potential harms of social technologies for at-risk adolescents.

Normative Expectations in Epistemology

There are all sorts of normative expectations in epistemology—expectations about the epistemic condition of other subjects—that would appear to be relevant to epistemic assessment in ways that do not conform to epistemic standards as traditionally understood. The expectations in question include expectations of inquiries pursued or completed, expectations of certain competences, professional expectations, expectations of having consulted with experts, institutional expectations, moral expectations, expectations of friends, and so forth. My goals in this paper are two. First, I aim to highlight the prevalence of such expectations, and the range of distinct types of circumstance in which they arise. Second, I assess several responses to the allegation that normative epistemic expectations are relevant to epistemic assessment. These range from “explaining away” the appearances to trying to offer one or another positive account of their significance. The former sort of reaction comes at a greater cost than many appear to appreciate, given the prevalence of these expectations and the range of circumstances in which they arise. The latter sort of reaction comes at the cost of having to revise our account of epistemic assessment itself. My own favored view does so in terms of the doctrine of normative defeat; I present my reasons for preferring this view, though I cannot claim in this paper to vindicate it.

"Walking on Eggshells:" A Qualitative Study of How Friends of Young Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence Perceive Their Role.

Young women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are most likely to turn to their friends for help. Although friends can play a critical role in providing support, there is little research that examines friends' experiences. In this qualitative study, we explored how friends of young women experiencing IPV perceived their role in responding to IPV in the context of friendship. We held in-depth interviews with 15 friends of young women who had experienced IPV and used reflexive thematic analysis to develop key themes from the data. We developed two overarching themes that reflected participants' perceptions of the roles they had played or considered as a friend in responding to IPV: "taking action" (which included "providing an outsider's view," "being an advisor or coach," "being a protector," and "taking a stand"); and "being there" (which included "being a listener," "being a companion" and "being an ally"). Their perceptions were shaped by friendship expectations, as well as by understandings of IPV. However, deciding what role to play in supporting their friend was constructed as challenging due to conflicting expectations that arose in the context of friendship. It involved balancing a perceived responsibility to do what they thought was best for their friend's well-being, a need to promote honesty and mutuality in the friendship, along with a competing obligation to respect their friend's choices, maintain her trust and ensure equality in the friendship. Being friends with the abuser as well as with the victim created additional complexities. Based on our findings, we identify key areas to address in developing interventions to assist friends to respond to young women experiencing IPV. These could guide friends on how to play an effective support role while also maintaining the friendship and managing the significant emotional impacts of providing help.

“They can even make waiting in line fun”: A quantitative content analysis of autistic children's friendship conceptualizations

AbstractWe explored third‐ to fifth‐grade children's friendship concepts in 20 autistic and 21 nonautistic students matched for mental age. Transcripts of semi‐structured interviews were coded for definitions of friendship, friendship expectations, and friendship transgressions (i. e., violations of friendship expectations), and subjected to quantitative content analysis. Findings demonstrated that children's definitions of friendship were largely aligned with their views on friendship expectations and transgressions. Kindness was significantly less salient to autistic children's definitions of friendship than for their nonautistic peers; otherwise, the two groups showed conceptualizations of friendship that were quite similar. Findings have implications for practitioners and researchers seeking to support autistic children's friendship experiences and bring to light important considerations for researchers seeking to better understand autistic friendship experiences.

Convivial encounters: Conditions for the urban social inclusion of people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities

Recent work has pointed to the importance for their social inclusion of convivial encounters between people with and without disabilities, but little is known about the spatial and social conditions of the places that encourage these encounters. This paper is concerned with public places that are conducive for convivial encounters between people with and without disabilities. Drawing on extensive participative observations of four community projects and 78 interviews with people visiting or working at these projects we investigated which elements in these places encourage ‘strangers’ to move from merely co-presence to conviviality. Three conditions seem to be conducive, namely: (1) a shared purpose, (2) built-in boundaries, (3) freedom to (dis)engage. These conditions were beneficial for convivial encounters, but do not lead to friendship or long-term support. People engage in such contact because they can be sure that these contacts do not raise expectations of long-term support or friendship.

When friends behave badly: Loneliness and children's expectations of friends and responses to transgressions

Previous research has shown that friendships buffer against loneliness, but some children remain lonely despite having best friends. The current study examines relationships between loneliness and Friendship Functions, expectations, and responses to friendship transgressions in children with best friends (8-11years; N=177). Children completed questionnaires that measured loneliness, fulfilment of Friendship Functions, Friendship Expectations, and the Transgressions of Friendship Expectations Questionnaire (MacEvoy & Asher, Child Development, 83, 2012, 104). Findings in the current study showed that loneliness was associated with lower Friendship Expectations and higher reliable alliance in existing best friendships. Loneliness was also associated with lower sadness and lower perceptions of feeling controlled and devalued by their friend when they transgress. Thus, children with best friends experiencing high loneliness may be more permissiveness of friendship transgressions and may need support to ensure that they do not allow their friends to be unfair to them. Statement of contribution What is already known on the subject? Friendships buffer children from loneliness, but some remain lonely despite having friends. Loneliness has been associated with poor-quality friendships. But there is no examination of why children remain lonely when they have friends. What the present study adds? Lonely children overemphasize friendship qualities that help to maintain the relationship. Loneliness was linked to expectations of being friends with less popular and well-liked peers. Lonely children placed less blame on their friends when they violated Friendship Expectations.

Friendship Expectations May be Similar for Mental Age-Matched Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Children.

We assessed 3rd-5th grade children's endorsement of 12 friendship expectations, in two mental age-matched (M = 10.15years) groups; one with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 20) and one with typical development (TD; n = 21). Groups rated friendship expectations similarly for all but one expectation, expressing care, which received significantly higher ratings in the ASD group. Overall expectation ratings were significantly and positively correlated with friendship quality in the ASD group (r = 0.43), but not the TD, group (r = 0.08). Expectations were not correlated with loneliness or self-worth in either group. In children with ASD, expectations pertaining to reliability/trust, kindness/caring, and help/reciprocity were rated highest, followed by togetherness/amusement, and finally by intimacy/disclosure.

The Different Roles of Parents and Friends: Support for Divorce and Repartnering Following Martial Dissolution among Latina and White Women

What role do significant others play in orientations to repartnering following divorce? Situated within critical role theory, and focusing on 23 white and Latina divorcees from Texas (the United States), this paper examines orientations toward repartnering in the light of distinct friend and parent expectations. While friends were sources of sympathy and affirmation, parents were more interventionist, indicating moral expectations. Parents either encouraged repartnering as the route to a happy future, or discouraged it on grounds that first marriage creates sacred, unbreakable bonds. The former response was more common among whites, and the latter more common among Latinas. The paper argues that the expectations of friends and parents are taken account of during this transitional period, in positive and negative ways, as orientations toward marriage, divorce, and repartnering were explained and justified.

Who Is This "We" You Speak of? Grounding Activist Identity in Social Psychology.

What is an activist identity? Prior answers have focused almost exclusively on collective identity, without a) considering the possibility of role-based identities or b) grounding collective identities in broader social-psychological theories. The present study investigates activist identity through the lens of role-based and category-based identities, and reports two major findings. First, there is a distinct role-based activist identity, one that involves internalizing role responsibilities and the expectations of friends and family. Second, collective identity represents a relationship between a social identity and an injustice frame; it either involves incorporating an injustice frame into a pre-existing social identity, or using the injustice frame to create a new in-group. The present findings help to illuminate the processes underlying collective identity, indicate that a great deal of role-based activist identity is mistaken for collective identity, and suggest new directions for the study of micro-mobilization and organizational forms and tactics in social movements.

Friendship Expectations and Children's Friendship-Related Behavior and Adjustment

Although relationship expectations are thought to influence all social interactions, little is known about the function of children’s friendship expectations. This study examined the associations among children’s friendship expectations and their behavior within their friendships, their friendship adjustment, and their socioemotional functioning. Third-grade through fifth-grade children ( N = 499; 260 girls and 239 boys; M age = 9.88 years) completed measures of their friendship expectations, friendship effort, friendship quantity, friendship satisfaction, loneliness, and fear of negative evaluation as an index of their social anxiety. Using structural equation modeling, higher friendship expectations were found to be associated with more positive friendship adjustment and better socio-emotional functioning. Friendship effort mediated these associations. Despite mean-level gender differences in friendship expectations, friendship expectations functioned in largely similar ways for girls and boys. These findings suggest that it is adaptive for children to have high relationship standards for their friends. Implications for the development of friendship interventions are discussed.

Residents Perceptions of Friendship and Positive Social Networks Within a Nursing Home.

(i) To describe nursing home residents' perceptions of their friendship networks using social network analysis (SNA) and (ii) to contribute to theory regarding resident friendship schema, network structure, and connections between network ties and social support. Cross-sectional interviews, standardized assessments, and observational data were collected in three care units, including a Dementia Specific Unit (DSU), of a 94-bed Sydney nursing home. Full participation consent was obtained for 36 residents aged 63-94 years. Able residents answered open-ended questions about friendship, identified friendship ties, and completed measures of nonfamily social support. Residents retained clear concepts of friendship and reported small, sparse networks. Nonparametric pairwise comparisons indicated that DSU residents reported less perceived social support (median = 7) than residents from the other units (median = 17; U = 10.0, p = .034, r = -.51), (median = 14; U = 0.0, p = .003, r = -.82). Greater perceived social support was moderately associated with higher number of reciprocated ties [ρ(25) = .49, p = .013]. Though some residents had friendships, many reported that nursing home social opportunities did not align with their expectations of friendship. Relationships with coresidents were associated with perceptions of social support. SNA's relational perspective elucidated network size, tie direction, and density, advancing understanding of the structure of residents' networks and flow of subjective social support through that structure. Understanding resident expectations and perceptions of their social networks is important for care providers wishing to improve quality of life in nursing homes.

Kantian Friendship: Duty and Idea

Kant commentators have recently begun to pay attention to Kant’s account of friendship. They have asked questions, such as: Is his description of friendship consistent and robust and does it provide an account of friendship that satisfies common intuitions and expectations of friendship? Their answers to these questions have often been negative. At the same time, many of these critics share a common understanding of two basic aspects of Kant’s account of friendship. Kant sees friendship as both a duty and an ideal state. One critic, Patricia Flynn, considers the implications of this dual claim. She argues that the view that friendship is both duty and idea gives rise to a tension in the concept of friendship. This tension makes the duty of friendship different from all other Kantian moral duties and leaves us with a duty that we cannot achieve. My aim is to revisit Flynn’s argument and by reassessing Kant’s claims to show that there is indeed complexity in Kant’s understanding of friendship, but there is no conceptual problem that makes friendship a duty unlike all other duties or makes it an impossible duty.

Retraction Note to: Retraction: Organizational level and friendship expectation at work

The literature on interpersonal interactions/relationships in work organizations indicates that personnel at higher organizational levels are more sociable and yet have workplace impersonality. This study unravels previous inconsistencies by examining employees’ friendship expectations across organizational levels. Data were collected from 222 full-time employees with a variety of occupational backgrounds in Taiwan. The results indicated that expectations of instrumental friendship at work did not differ across organizational levels. However, higher-level employees had lower expectations of expressive friendship at work, which provides personal emotional satisfaction, while detracting from workplace competitive advantage. The findings of this study shed new light on previous inconsistencies and the mutually contradictory organizational stances on workplace friendship. Significant implications are provided for dilemmas concerning isolated offices, ‘management by walking around’ and workplace relationships.

Residential Mobility, Social Support Concerns, and Friendship Strategy

The present research examined how residential mobility affects the extent to which people compartmentalize friendship activities (i.e., selecting different friends for different activities) and the role of social support concerns in the relationship between mobility and friendship compartmentalization. Studies 1 and 2 showed that people who had moved frequently while growing up or who were primed to think about moving compartmentalized their friendships more if they valued social support in friendship. Study 3 showed that this effect was driven by concerns over social support availability. The findings suggest that residential mobility changes friendship structure in ways that satisfy individuals’ expectations of friendship.

Organizational level and friendship expectation at work

The literature on interpersonal interactions/relationships in work organizations indicates that personnel at higher organizational levels are more sociable and yet have workplace impersonality. This study unravels previous inconsistencies by examining employees’ friendship expectations across organizational levels. Data were collected from 222 full-time employees with a variety of occupational backgrounds in Taiwan. The results indicated that expectations of instrumental friendship at work did not differ across organizational levels. However, higher-level employees had lower expectations of expressive friendship at work, which provides personal emotional satisfaction, while detracting from workplace competitive advantage. The findings of this study shed new light on previous inconsistencies and the mutually contradictory organizational stances on workplace friendship. Significant implications are provided for dilemmas concerning isolated offices, ‘management by walking around’ and workplace relationships.

Friendship standards: The dimensions of ideal expectations

This multi-study investigation identified and confirmed the factor structure of ideal friendship standards. Study 1 ( N = 307) conducted an exploratory factor analysis on 30 existing subscales of friendship expectations. Study 2 ( N = 401) reduced 181 items from past subscales and single-item measures of friendship expectations to 51 items measuring six factors. Study 3 ( N = 668) used an international internet sample to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis on the six factor model. Samples from studies 2 and 3 were combined and factorial invariance was demonstrated by sample, by participant sex, and by age. The six factors of expectations (i.e., symmetrical reciprocity, agency, enjoyment, instrumental aid, similarity, and communion) constitute the ideal standards of friendship.

When Friends Disappoint: Boys’ and Girls’ Responses to Transgressions of Friendship Expectations

In this study, the prevailing view that girls are pervasively more skilled in their friendships than boys was challenged by examining whether girls respond more negatively than boys when a friend violates core friendship expectations. Fourth- and fifth-grade children (n = 267) responded to vignettes depicting transgressions involving a friend's betrayal, unreliability, or failure to provide support or help. Results indicated that girls were more troubled by the transgressions, more strongly endorsed various types of negative relationship interpretations of the friend's actions, and reported more anger and sadness than did boys. Girls also endorsed revenge goals and aggressive strategies just as much as boys. These findings lead to a more complex view of boys' and girls' friendship competencies.