Functions of Friendship
“Friends are a subset of peers who engage in mutual companionship, support, and intimacy,” according to John W. Santrock in the book Adolescence. This implies that there are certain characteristics that are involved. Gottman and Parker organized these characteristics into six main categories, which serve as the functions of friendship. They include: Companionship, stimulation, physical support, ego support, social comparison, and intimacy/affection.
Harry Sullivan is given credit as the “most influential theorist to discuss the importance of adolescent friendships” (Santrock1). Like the basic physical needs that all people have there are social needs that also need to be met for the adolescent to be emotionally balanced. These basic social needs include the six functions of friendship. Sullivan also states examples showing what could happen if these basic functions are not met. For example, loneliness and depression can result from not......

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Title: Functions Of Friends
Approximate Word Count: 368
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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