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Precious moments with family members and friends
Abstract
understand the dynamics of these special, rewarding and transient experiences, from youth to old age
compare experience during time spent with family and friends at several different junctures in the life span
question whether these shifts in relationships and the shifting circumstances of relationships make special moments with these significant others more or less likely
Experience Sampling Method
experiential resources within the social network (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Further, the amount of time adults spent with friends may drop after marriage (Larson & Bradney, 1988). However, Larson and Bradney (1988) argued that the time spent with friends can be a "reprieve from the demands of work and family" and time for personal enjoyment. ...
... Further, the amount of time adults spent with friends may drop after marriage (Larson & Bradney, 1988). However, Larson and Bradney (1988) argued that the time spent with friends can be a "reprieve from the demands of work and family" and time for personal enjoyment. According to Dickson-Markman and Markman (1988), the type of network may also influence marital satisfaction differentially by gender. ...
... Surprisingly, perceptions of interference from family were not linked to marital well-being in our study. We argue that, similar to Larson and Bradney (1988), spouses may be spending more time with friends than family, particularly because time spent with friends is considered a "reprieve from the demands of work and family." Therefore, the newlywed couples in this study could be spending too much time with friends and leaving their spouses feeling as though they are not a priority, which leads to lower marital well-being. ...
In early marriage, couples are intricately tied to their social networks and are influenced by important connections, social interactions, and socialization processes within those networks. Most of the research on the links between social networks and marital processes has focused on the positive effects or support married couples receive from their friends and family. The present study examined the links between perceptions of interference from family and friends and newlyweds’ reports of marital well-being in the early years of marriage. The contexts of both gender and race were explored to gain a better understanding of how interference from family and friends might be linked to marital well-being. Data from Black American and White American couples in their early years of marriage were analyzed. The findings revealed that perceptions of interference from friends were negatively associated with marital well-being for both Black American and White American wives. Husbands’ perceptions of interference from their wives’ friends were negatively linked to marital well-being, but only for Black American husbands. We offer several explanations for the differential links between perceptions of interference and marital well-being, including the role of relationships in self-identity and the negative spillover effect of external stressors.
... There has been a failure to recognize this and a tendency to continue to see the costs 'as virtually a personal luxury' (Allan, 1989: 78). Work such as Larson and Bradney's (1988) and Argyle's (1987Argyle's ( , 1990) have suggested that the crucial importance of friendships lies in their provision of positive and very enjoyable experiences: 'With friends our attention becomes focused, distractions lessen, awareness of time disappears: we emerge into a world in which the intimacy and joy shared with others is the fundamental reality, and for a time the world becomes a different place' (Larson and Bradney, 1988: 14). Larson and Bradney (1988) found that in their studies, across all age groups, levels of happiness and excitement were consistently high when their respondents were with friends (although they were particularly high in old age). ...
... Work such as Larson and Bradney's (1988) and Argyle's (1987Argyle's ( , 1990) have suggested that the crucial importance of friendships lies in their provision of positive and very enjoyable experiences: 'With friends our attention becomes focused, distractions lessen, awareness of time disappears: we emerge into a world in which the intimacy and joy shared with others is the fundamental reality, and for a time the world becomes a different place' (Larson and Bradney, 1988: 14). Larson and Bradney (1988) found that in their studies, across all age groups, levels of happiness and excitement were consistently high when their respondents were with friends (although they were particularly high in old age). Similar themes are mentioned by Argyle (1987Argyle ( , 1990, who noted that amongst both his European and American respondents relationships with friends were important sources of joy -this stemming from the easy, relaxed nature of their interaction with each other. ...
... There are different views about the extent to which the early child-rearing period either creates a condition which facilitates them, or indeed poses such barriers that it is difficult to maintain them. Certainly, it has been noted that the amount of time spent with friends decreases during the period when family responsibilities are heaviest (i.e. during the thirties, forties and early fifties, Larson and Bradney, 1988) and amongst those with young children, (Fischer, 1982b). However, Bradford Brown (1981), drawing on Weiss and Lowenthal's (1975) and Shulman's (1975) work suggested that by the time women were in their forties and fifties, although their networks had become smaller, interaction with friends was more frequent, and the content of their friendships more specialized. ...
In "Friendships Between Women," friendships are more than placed in their best light, as Jennie Jerome Churchill advised. Pat O'Connor brings them fully into the light, examines them from every angle, evaluates their strengths and limitations, brings into focus the social and cultural context which shapes them, and sets them squarely before us in all their sublime dimensionality. Her integration of psychological, sociological and feminist perspectives presents the reader with a bold new synthesis of the nature of friendship. Western notions of friendship as a strictly privatized relationship are challenged, as she deftly illustrates how structural variables such as class, power and resources affect and are affected by what is presumed to be one of the most intimate relationships. Thus, her work is an important contribution to the fields of Women's Studies, Psychology of Women and personal relationships.
By exploring the factors that shape women's friendships, previously unasked but significant questions are raised, such as: To what extent has the much exalted greater intimacy of women's friendships been shaped by women's subordinate social status and lack of concrete resources, such as time, money and physical space? What are the limitations of intimacy as a defining feature of friendship? What role does friendship play in maintaining social norms? What are the costs of friendship to the individual?
By bringing together emerging theories of personal relationships, empirical research on gender and friendship, and feminist perspectives on relationships between women, O'Connor has forged the beginning of a broad path toward her goal. This exciting new direction holds considerable promise for understanding not only key issues in women's lives, but the place of personal relationships in both private and public life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reservedFrienship; Kin;
... The amount of time spent with friends is lowest in middle age when family, work, and community roles are very time consuming (Larson & Bradney, 1988). On retirement, there is only a slight increase in time spent with friends. ...
... A popular topic in research involves a comparison of the influence that friends and family have on wellbeing . In well-known studies, Larson, Mannell, and Zuzanek (1986; see also Larson & Bradbury, 1988) examined in whose company people between the ages of 18 and 85 were most happy and excited. At all ages, respondents were happiest and most excited when they were with friends. ...
Scholars from such disciplines as psychology, family studies, sociology, gerontology, communications and psychiatry have long been interested in the study of personal relationships. Yet all too often these social scientists have worked in isolation and in ignorance of the contributions made in other disciplines. In 1979, Robert Hinde, a British ethologist at Cambridge University, called for a new science of relationships; scholars from all over the world responded and the new interdisciplinary field of personal relationships has emerged.
"Understanding Personal Relationships" introduces the reader to this new field by integrating central themes from social psychology, sociology, clinical psychology, family studies, and communications. A comprehensive bibliographic essay by the editors gives an overview of the growth in the field and predicts future areas of research and clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... During adolescence, significantly more time is spent with friends as friendships become increasingly central (Brown 1990; Younis and Smollar 1985). Adolescents in high school spend 29% of their waking hours with friends (Larson and Bradney 1988) and twice as much of their time each week is spent with friends than parents (Brown 1990). Family relationships continue to be important, but friendships serve functions that are different from relations with the family. ...
... This assumption seems to be based on the idea that single adults have few friends and are living on their own. However, many teens already enjoy benefits associated with social support and integration since they live with their parents and are extensively involved with their friendship groups (Barrett and Turner 2005; Larson and Bradney 1988). Involvement in teen romantic relationships can alter the positive and supporting relationships with friends and parents by decreasing the time normally spent with friends and causing increased conflict with parents (Aneshensel and Gore 1991; Gray and Steinberg 1999). ...
... Healthy friendships are an integral part of people's everyday lives and often serve to facilitate desirable outcomes such as health and happiness (DeScioli et al., 2011). Recent research has found that people will choose to voluntarily spend significant amounts of free time with their friends, although this tendency often peaks in adolescence and declines in adulthood, likely because of the increasing importance of other relationships and responsibilities (Larson & Bradney, 1988). ...
Objective: Although much of the research literature has found that individuals tend to perceive their friends as similar to themselves, we hypothesized that individuals with strong narcissistic traits may be less likely to do so because of their tendency to view themselves as unique. Method: We used self-reports and friend-reports in two studies with 129 participants from Germany and 131 participants from the US to examine the moderating effects of narcissistic personality features on the tendency to perceive one’s friends as having similar humor styles. Results: The results revealed that individuals generally tend to view themselves as similar to their friends in terms of humor styles. As expected, we found a moderating effect of narcissism such that higher levels of narcissism were associated with lower levels of perceived similarity. Interestingly, individuals high in grandiose narcissism tended to devalue their close friends’ humor, and individuals high in vulnerable narcissism tended to enhance their friends’ humor compared with themselves. Conclusion: The results suggest that narcissistic individuals may tend to view their friends through a particular lens, regardless of their friends’ actual traits. This mechanism may be related to the narcissistic need to feel unique.
... Though friendship is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, the preponderance of evidence demonstrates an association between participation in friendships and general quality of life (Friedman & Rizzolo, 2018). Being in the presence of friends (as opposed to being with family or alone) often creates feelings of happiness (Larson & Bradney, 1988), or even joy (Argyle, 1987). People who have regular contact with friends or who are connected to larger numbers of friends tend to evince better health outcomes than people who are more isolated (Van der Horst & Coffe, 2012). ...
Background: Social isolation and loneliness are often present after aphasia and lead to negative health, social, and physical outcomes. Maintaining social connections after aphasia has been identified as an important target for intervention, but is not regularly addressed in aphasia intervention. While many persons with aphasia maintain relationships with immediate family members after brain injury, there are considerable changes to the substance and quantity of friendship networks early on in the recovery period.
Aims: The aims of this article are to examine the literature on the topic of friendship within and across disciplines and to propose a research agenda for supporting the maintenance of friendships in persons living with aphasia.
Main Contribution: The benefits of friendship to quality of life and wellbeing are well documented. Persons living with aphasia are at high risk for social isolation and reduction of friendship network due to multiple factors including reduced language capacity and social participation, costs and benefits associated with sustaining friendships, and changing social roles and identities. This article identifies 1) prospective research variables that may influence the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of friendship networks, 2) requirements of friendship research based upon these variables, 3) descriptions of interventions designed to improve existing and new friendships, and 4) potential outcome measures for capturing friendship changes and general well-being. We also highlight the link between reducing social isolation and loneliness by targeting friendship at an early stage in the recovery process and recommend a detailed plan for preventing the loss of friendship networks for people with aphasia.
Conclusions: Strategic research and development of interventions targeting the maintenance of existing friendships is necessary to support the reduction of social isolation in persons with aphasia. The authors propose a research agenda which includes co-design of research projects and interventions for friendship maintenance as one means of addressing the issue of social isolation in persons with aphasia.
... Diaries have been employed in household studies in order to capture how couples use their time (Hornik, 1982;Vanek, 1974;Robinson et al., 1977). Larson and Bradney (1988), as well as Carstensen et al. (2011) collected data on people's moods in the presence of friends and family. Almeida (2005), Almeida and Kessler (1998), Almeida et al. (1999), and Bolger and colleagues (Bolger et al., 1989a(Bolger et al., , 1989b investigated experiences of stress in everyday life and the spillover effects of work stress on relationships. ...
Research on joint decision-making processes in households is particularly relevant for marketing, especially for understanding who decides what to buy in purchasing decisions and how decision processes evolve. However, the investigation of such complex processes requires adequate research methods to account for the dynamics in close relationships. We provide a critical overview of past research in the arena of economic decision-making among couples, concentrating on methodological issues. After describing different types of decisions we proceed by describing findings on interaction dynamics, including the nature and occurrence of conflicts. In reviewing relationship structures we focus on the dimensions of harmony and power. The descriptive process model utilized includes the partners' use of influence tactics, as well as the emergence of utility debts at the end of a decision-making process. Reviewing the adequacy of various research methods, observational and survey techniques are discussed as conventional psychological research methods. The Vienna Partner Diary is introduced as novel method and suggested as being useful for collecting data on the complex interaction processes in the everyday life of couples.
... This is important considering that one of the primary facets of one's social network and its functioning constituents is the perception of social support. Other authors have utilised electronic methods of capturing social interaction; respondents have been paged at random times of the day and asked to complete interaction reports (Larson and Bradney, 1988). This study aimed to obtain data on emotions associated with these various interactions in order to ascertain whether the informant felt positive or negative and how supportive the individual case of social exchange may have been. ...
This is an interdisciplinary PhD research project, spanning the ESRC Centre for Population Change and the Centre for Research on Ageing. Using British Household Panel Survey data, the thesis aims to prove that undertaking a residential move changes the supportive capacity of one’s social network in later life. The study first investigates the determinants of moving home in later life. It then conceptualises and constructs the social networks of older people in the UK, considering key attributes such as network size, frequency, proximity and functions and examines the effects of moving home on these measures. The analysis finds that the incidence of residential mobility is associated with, amongst other things, becoming widowed and experiencing a negative change in health or financial circumstance. Furthermore older people are likely to experience disruption to the supportive capacity of their companionship and community networks following a move. This research has important implications for policy as any damaging effects on an older person’s informal support network may have consequences for their health outcomes and in turn lead to an increased dependence on formal health and social care services at the places to which they move.
... In family studies there has been some attention to moments as a way to understand personal life. However, perhaps driven by a Giddensian agenda, the focus has tended to be upon extraordinary or special moments (Larson and Bradney, 1988) or specific dimensions of family life, interrogating phenomenon such as 'quality time' (Kremer-Sadlik and Paugh, 2007). Notwithstanding the insights provided through these foci, the momentary concept has, however, been problematized through empirical research, being critiqued for effacing power, and the problematic and provisionality of lived lives (Plumridge and Thomson, 2003). ...
Everyday moments and ordinary gestures create the texture of long-term couple relationships. In this article we demonstrate how, by refining our research tools and conceptual imagination, we can better understand these vibrant and visceral relationships. The 'moments approach' that we propose provides a lens through which to focus in on couples' everyday experiences, to gain insight on processes, meanings and cross-cutting analytical themes whilst ensuring that feelings and emotionality remain firmly attached. Calling attention to everyday relationship practices, we draw on empirical research to illustrate and advance our conceptual and methodological argument. The Enduring Love? study included an online survey (n = 5445) and multi-sensory qualitative research with couples (n = 50) to interrogate how they experience, understand and sustain their long-term relationships.
... According to Allport, during childhood, parents play an important socializing role in forming children's attitudes and values. However by adolescence, peers have been found to play an increasingly important role in the child's social world, including a greater influence on adolescent's racial attitudes (Larson & Bradney, 1988;Ritchey & Fishbein, 2001;Verkuyten, 2002). In fact, Hoover and Fishbein (1999) argue that social environmental factors (i.e., socio-cultural contexts or socialization experiences) may be more influential in fine-tuning adolescent's prejudice than children's prejudice. ...
... Пријатељство као форма интерперсоналних односа, важна је за целокупни животни цикус особе (Zerbatanu и сар., 2004), а нарочито током студирања, јер студенти у односу на све остале узрасне групе највише времена проводе са пријатељима (Carbery & Buhrmaster, 1997;Cross и сар., 2000). Истраживања показују да највећи број људи сматра да је време проведено с пријатељима веома важно и пружа веће уживање него бити сам, са породицом или партнером (Larson & Bradney, 1988), да се у друштву с пријатељима осећају срећније и имају позитивнију слику о себи (Kumashiro & Sedikides, 2005;Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995), као и да се за пријатеље бирају особе за које сматрамо да су нам сличније и да смо односом који је успостављен на основу овог избора пријатеља задовољнији (Aybe & Koestner, 1995;Deutsch, Sullivan, Sage & Basile, 1991;Mikulincer, Orbach & Iavnieli, 1998). Највећи број истраживача до сада се бавио партнерским везама као једном од значајнијих форми интерперсоналних односа и неким карактеристикама тих веза, као што је задовољство у вези или браку (Bentler & Newcomb, 1978;Davis & Oathout, 1987;Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998). ...
374 студента нишког и београдског универзитета задат је Сингелисов СЦС, као и упитник намењен прикупљању података о неким оп-штим карактеристикама пријатељских односа које особа има. Резултати су пока-зали више статистички значајних веза између независности и међузависности с једне и карактеристика пријатељских односа с друге стране. Све добијене везе су биле слабе, али по смеру у складу са теоријским очекивањима. Додатно, до-бијени су резултати који говоре у прилог поузданости и конструктивне валидно-сти скала СЦС-а на нашем узорку. Кључне речи: СЦС, пријатељски односи, Сингелис, независност и међузависност Увод Пријатељски односи представљају значајне интерперсоналне релације у животу сваког човека. Природна људска потреба је " по-треба за припадањем " у блиским партнерским везама (Baumeister &
... In line with our hypothesis, our findings showed that both gay and lesbian couples shared a larger portion of their social network than did heterosexual couples. Because shared social relationships are expected to favor partners' interdependence and couple identity, facilitate conjugal communication (Burger & Milardo, 1995), and increase the opportunities for conjugal interaction (Larson & Bradney, 1988), it makes sense that sharing a large proportion of personal ties helps lesbian and gay couples to legitimize their relationship when institutional acknowledgment and cultural support are lacking. ...
... Does the novelty wear off, and if so, does the effect of positive interactions with the other couple no longer increase passionate love? Research by Larson and colleagues (Larson & Bradley, 1988; Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek, 1986) finds that individuals report their peak levels of daily positive affect when engaging in activities with spouses and friends together, compared to being alone or with either only spouses or only friends. Although no other studies have examined how friendships with others affect passionate love, the finding that individuals report their highest levels of positive affect when with familiar others suggests that the familiarity with other couples and individuals does not moderate the effects of interactions between couples on passionate love. ...
Previous work shows that high self-disclosure interactions between couples can increase feelings of closeness within couples. We investigated whether couple friendships created in the lab through high self-disclosure and closeness-building activities would boost feelings of passionate love. In Study 1, couples randomly assigned to a high (vs. low) closeness induction task, either alone or with another couple, showed significantly greater increases in passionate love when they were highly self-disclosing with other couples. Study 2 showed that the responsiveness of the other couple mediated the effects of self-disclosure on increases in passionate love following high self-disclosure interactions with other couples. The creation of couple friendships may be an additional way to re-ignite feelings of passionate love in romantic relationships.
... On the one hand, time spent with friends is greatest in middle childhood and adolescence, amounting to 29% of time awake among teenagers. On the other hand, middle-aged adults spend only 7% of their time interacting with friends, and those over Age 65 spend 9% of their time this way (Larson & Bradney, 1988;Larson, Zuzanek, & Mannell, 1985 ). Older women spend more time interacting with friends (and relatives) than men, and widowed men and women spend more time with friends than married individuals (Altergott, 1988). ...
Friends foster self-esteem and a sense of well-being, socialize one another, and support one another in coping with developmental transitions and life stress. Friends engage in different activities with one another across the life span, but friendship is conceived similarly by children and adults. Friends and friendships, however, are not all alike. The developmental significance of having friends depends on the characteristics of the friends, especially whether the friends are antisocial or socially withdrawn. Outcomes also depend on whether friendships are supportive and intimate or fractious and unstable. Among both children and adults, friendships have clear-cut developmental benefits at times but are mixed blessings at other times.
... Numerous studies have indicated the importance of friends in people's lives. Friends have been found to be a primary source of joy, intimacy, support, and meaning of life (Fehr, 2004;Klinger, 1977;Larson & Bradney, 1988; see also Fehr, 1996 for a review). Along with romantic and family relationships, friendships were identified as one's closest, deepest, most involved, and most intimate relationship (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989). ...
Utilizing Bradbury and Fincham's (19886.
Bradbury , T. N. , &
Fincham , F. D. ( 1988 ). Individual difference variables in close relationships: A contextual model of marriage as an integrative framework . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 54 , 713 – 721 . [CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®]View all references, 19907.
Bradbury , T. N. , &
Fincham , F. D. ( 1990 ). Attributions in marriage: Review and critique . Psychological Bulletin , 107 , 3 – 33 . [CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [CSA]View all references) distal-proximal contextual model, we report two studies examining the relational ramifications of honest but hurtful (HBH) evaluative messages in romantic and friend relationships. Findings indicate proximal factors played a prominent role in explaining the variance of relational ramifications beyond that contributed by distal factors. At the proximal level, perceived hurtfulness, intentionality, and honesty motives contributed to negative ramifications. Enhancement motives and honesty motives were associated with positive ramifications. At the distal level, self-esteem was associated with relational worries. Unexpectedly, one's beliefs concerning the role of honesty in close relationships were not associated with reported relational ramifications.
... According to Allport, during childhood, parents play an important socializing role in forming children's attitudes and values. However by adolescence, peers have been found to play an increasingly important role in the child's social world, including a greater influence on adolescent's racial attitudes (Larson & Bradney, 1988;Ritchey & Fishbein, 2001;Verkuyten, 2002). In fact, Hoover and Fishbein (1999) argue that social environmental factors (i.e., socio-cultural contexts or socialization experiences) may be more influential in fine-tuning adolescent's prejudice than children's prejudice. ...
There is a limited theoretical and empirical literature on the role of friendship quality and interracial contact on adolescent racial prejudice development. To address this gap, the present study examined the relationship between these factors amongst an Australian sample of 89 school-aged adolescent friendship dyads and 80 university-aged adolescent friendship dyads. All participants were administered questionnaires measuring prejudice towards Asian and Arab Australians, friendship quality and interracial contact. Overall, the results revealed that all adolescents reported significantly higher levels of subtle prejudice than blatant prejudice. As predicted, university-aged adolescents reported significantly lower levels of both subtle and blatant prejudice towards Asian and Arab Australians than school-aged adolescents. Importantly, adolescents who had contact with Asian (outgroup) friends reported significantly lower levels of subtle and blatant prejudice towards Asian Australians than adolescents with no Asian friends. Interestingly, friendship quality was not found to moderate the similarity of prejudice levels within friendship dyads. Together, these findings indicate that in developing subtle prejudice-reduction programs research should focus on increasing interracial cooperative contact, particularly amongst school-aged adolescents.
... Numerous studies have indicated the importance of friends in people's lives. Friends have been found to be a primary source of joy, intimacy, support, and meaning of life (Fehr, 2004;Klinger, 1977;Larson & Bradney, 1988; see also Fehr, 1996 for a review). Along with romantic and family relationships, friendships were identified as one's closest, deepest, most involved, and most intimate relationship (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989). ...
... Self-expansion theory suggests that novel activities-such as having a highly disclosing conversation with another couple-create strong positive affect, which becomes associated with one's partner through positive reinforcement, in turn leading to greater feelings of closeness toward one's partner. The first link in this proposed meeting another couple→positive affect→relationship closeness chain of associations is suggested in series of two daily experience sampling studies conducted by Larson and colleagues ( Larson & Bradney, 1988;Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek, 1986). In these studies, participants reported their highest levels of positive affect when they were engaging in activities with their spouses and friends together, compared to activities alone, with spouse only or with friends only. ...
This study investigated how friendships between couples form and implications for within-couple process. Sixty couples were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions where they engaged in a 45-min interaction with another couple. In 1 condition, couples carried out self-disclosure tasks; in the other, couples engaged in nonemotional small talk. Compared to the small-talk condition, those in the high-disclosure condition felt closer to the couples they interacted with and were more likely to meet up with them again during the following month. Further, couples in the high-disclosure condition felt closer to their own partners. Actor–partner interdependence model analyses showed these effects to be mediated by increases in positive affect. Implications for studying the interplay of social networks and romantic relationships are discussed.
... Notwithstanding modern reproductive technology, virtually all of us today, and certainly our pre-20th century ancestors, owe our existence to a man and a woman having gotten together. Apropos of the amount of time we spend with others , Reed Larson and his associates (see Larson & Bradney, 1988) had 179 presumably normal teenagers and adults carry electronic pagers with them whereever they went for a week. Once during every two hours of their waking day, Larson beeped these individuals, asking them to indicate what they were doing and who, if anyone, was with them. ...
This article examines the place of relationships in our daily lives and in the field of psychology. The first section of the article offers reasons why relationships are central for humans. Next, the place of relationships in the history, institutional aspects, and subfields of psychology is presented. Then a paradox about relationships is presented: They are both among the most positive, uplifting of life's experiences and yet they can also be among life's darkest aspects. Despite the negative aspects of relationships, most people are very happy in their intimate relations. The paper ends with possible explanations for why satisfaction may be so high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... On the one hand, time spent with friends is greatest in middle childhood and adolescence, amounting to 29% of time awake among teenagers. On the other hand, middle-aged adults spend only 7% of their time interacting with friends, and those over Age 65 spend 9% of their time this way (Larson & Bradney, 1988;Larson, Zuzanek, & Mannell, 1985 ). Older women spend more time interacting with friends (and relatives) than men, and widowed men and women spend more time with friends than married individuals (Altergott, 1988). ...
To consider friendships and their significance through the life course requires, first, differentiation of deep structure (i.e., reciprocity) from surface structure (i.e., the social exchange) and, second, assessment within a multifaceted framework that simultaneously emphasizes having friends, the identity of one's friends, and relationship quality. Having friends is correlated with a sense of well being across the life span, but developmental outcome also depends on the identity of one's friends as well as the quality of one's relationships with them. Greater attention needs to be given to the manner in which friendships differ from one another, continuities and changes across major developmental transitions, and differentiation of developmental pathways through which friendship experience contributes to individual outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Les études de Pager démontrent que les adolescents et les adultes en Amérique du Nord passent plus de 70 pour cent du temps où ils sont éveillés en présence d'autres personnes (voir Larson et Bradney, 1988). ...
This article examines the place of relationships in our daily lives and in the field of psychology. The first section of the article offers reasons why relationships are central for humans. Next, the place of relationships in the history, institutional aspects, and subfields of psychology is presented. Then a paradox about relationships is presented: They are both among the most positive, uplifting of life's experiences and yet they can also be among life's darkest aspects. Despite the negative aspects of relationships, most people are very happy in their intimate relations. The paper ends with possible explanations for why satisfaction may be so high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Friendships are usually sought for the pleasure and satisfaction that they can provide, thus for companionship. The shared activities, humor and social rituals that are part of friendship, as well as the stimulation one experiences in the company of friends, have a positive effect on an older individual's well-being (Larson & Bradney, 1988;Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek, 1986). ...
In order to promote well-being and alleviate loneliness among older women, a program was developed to help them improve existing friendships or develop new friendships. In a pilot study thirty-two participants in the program were interviewed on their friendships and loneliness at two points in time, immediately following the course and a year later. Loneliness scores were compared to those of a matched control group from a large nationally representative sample. Both groups were very lonely initially and demonstrated a significant reduction in loneliness a year later. However more women in the friendship course were successful in reducing their loneliness; these women had developed new friendships of varying degrees of closeness and had increased the complexity of their friendship networks. These changes are significantly related to the decline in loneliness. Limitations of the research design and suggestions for future studies on the friendship program are presented in the discussion.
... Additionally, the IMs collected in our study captured only how couples behaved with each other when they were in isolation of others. It is likely that the way people act around their partners when others are present (e.g., friends, family) may differ from the way people act with their partners when others are not present; experience sampling data from couples supports this idea (Larson & Bradney, 1988). The limitations of the method used in Study 3 may explain the differing findings for partner effects compared to Study 2. Because of the archival nature of the data used in Study 3, we unfortunately were unable to have couples complete a self-reported contextualized measure to make direct within-person comparisons with our observer-based measure. ...
Researchers have made great strides in conceptualizing and assessing contextualized personality—how people’s personalities vary across different contexts (e.g., among friends, co-workers, and relationship partners). We investigated how global and contextualized personality traits are linked to relationship satisfaction. In Study 1, longitudinal associations between global and contextualized personality and relationship satisfaction were examined in a sample of adults in committed dating relationships. Study 2 investigated actor and partner effects of global and contextualized personality on relationship satisfaction in undergraduate couples. Study 3 used observer ratings of contextualized personality traits expressed in couples’ daily Instant Messages (IMs). These results demonstrate that contextualized personality—in particular neuroticism—is linked to the quality of both current and future romantic relationships.
... For example, friends matter more to people than most other social relationships and are socialized with the most, encompassing 58% of social networks and the majority of social interaction (Fisher, 1982;Klinger, 1977). That large amount of social interaction is not surprising given that people report enjoying time spent with friends more than time spent alone, with family, or with spouses (Larson & Bradney, 1988). Indeed, friends are related to a plethora of positive outcomes: they provide a unique source of happiness in people's lives, above and beyond that accounted for by marriage and family (Argyle, 1987); and are related to psychological well-being and more positive feelings about the self (Bukowski, Newcomb, & Hoza, 1994;Kumashiro & Sedikides, 2005;Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995). ...
The current research proposes that thinking about friends improves feelings about the self and does so differentially depending on avoidance of intimacy. Based on previous findings that individuals who avoid intimacy in relationships (avoidant individuals) contrast their self-concepts with primed friends whereas those who pursue intimacy in relationships (non-avoidant individuals) assimilate their self-concepts to primed friends [Gabriel, S., Carvallo, M., Dean, K., Tippin, B. D., & Renaud, J. (2005). How I see “Me” depends on how I see “We”: The role of avoidance of intimacy in social comparison. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 156–157], we predicted that friends who embody negative aspects of self would lead avoidant individuals to like themselves more, whereas friends who embody positive aspects of self would lead non-avoidant individuals to like themselves more. A pretest determined that good friends were seen as more similar to positive and ideal aspects of the self, whereas friends about whom participants had more mixed feelings (ambivalent friends) were seen as more similar to disliked and feared aspects of the self. Four experiments supported the main hypotheses. In Experiment 1, non-avoidant individuals like themselves more when good friends were primed. In Experiment 2, avoidant individuals like themselves more when ambivalent friends were primed. In Experiment 3, non-avoidant individuals liked themselves better after thinking about a friend’s positive traits, whereas avoidant individuals liked themselves better after thinking about a friend’s negative traits. In Experiment 4, all individuals under self-esteem threat strategically brought friends to mind who would help them like themselves more.
... The first link in this proposed meeting another couplepositive affectrelationship quality chain of associations is suggested in series of two daily experience sampling studies conducted by Larson and colleagues (Larson & Bradney, 1988; Larson, Mannell, & Zuzanek, 1986). In these studies, participants reported their highest levels of positive affect when they were engaging in activities with their spouses and friends together, compared to activities alone, with spouse only or with friends only. ...
... Tulos jää usein hajanaisemmaksi tai vaillinaisemmaksi kuin jos olisi tukeuduttu aikaisempaan sosiaalisen muodon jäsennykseen (esim. Allanin vanhempien ja lasten suhteiden tarkastelu ja Larsonin ja Bradneyn ystävyyden tarkastelu, Allan 1979, 93-97; Larson & Bradney 1988 ). Yli sata tai lähes sata vuotta sitten syntyneet sosiaalisia muotoja koskevat erottelut näyttävät kestävän hyvin ajan kulumista. ...
Abstract. Diss. -- Helsingin yliopisto.
... Disaggregating the effects of interpersonal contexts from the specific activities is an important step in identifying the sources of self-expansion. For example, Larson and Bradney (1988) found that married individuals experienced the highest levels of happiness when with their spouses and friends; however, those authors argued that this finding was due to the fact that the individuals were more likely to be engaged in leisure activities when with those people. ...
The self-expansion model of close relationships posits that when couples engage in exciting and activating conjoint activities, they feel connected with their partners and more satisfied with their relationships. In the present study, the experience sampling method was used to examine the predictions of the self-expansion model in couples' momentary experiences. In addition, the author generated several new hypotheses by integrating the self-expansion model with existing research on flow. Over the course of 1 week, 20 couples were signaled at quasi-random intervals to provide data on 1,265 unique experiences. The results suggest that the level of activation experienced during an activity was positively related to experience-level relationship quality. This relationship was consistent across free-time and nonfree-time contexts and was mediated by positive affect. Activation was not found to predict later affect unless the level of activation exceeded what was typical for the individual. Also examined was the influence of interpersonal context and activity type on self-expansion. The results support the self-expansion model and suggest that it could be considered under the broader umbrella of flow.
İç göç hareketleriyle birlikte başlayıp akabinde informel ilişkilerle devam eden bir sürecin çıktısı olan hemşehrilik olgusunun siyasal, sosyal, ekonomik, demografik, kültürel ve psikolojik etkilerinin yanı sıra yönetsel yapılar üzerinde de yansımaları bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı ise yerel yönetimlerde personel alımları ve hemşehrilik olgusu arasındaki etkileşimi bilimsel bir paradigmayla izah etmektir. Bu kapsamda belediye bürokratları, yerel siyasi seçkinler ve hemşehri derneği yöneticilerinin belediyelerde personel alımı ve hemşehrilik olgusu arasındaki algılarının nasıl kavrandığı çalışmanın merkezi problemini teşkil etmektedir. Çalışma İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi’ne bağlı olan Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, Ataşehir, Sancaktepe, Büyükçekmece ve Esenler ilçe belediyelerindeki 27 seçkin grupla derinlemesine mülakat yoluyla yürütülmüştür. Çalışma sonucunda hemşehrilik olgusuna ilişkin yönetsel ana boyutunun olduğu ve bunun altında altı alt boyut tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca belediyelere personel alımlarında hemşehri ve siyasi baskılarının yoğun olmasının liyakat ilkesinin işlerlik kazanmasını engellediği; temsili bürokrasi sorununun var olduğu ve belediye oligarşisinin ortaya çıktığı çalışma sonucundan elde edilen başlıca bulgu ve tespitler arasında yer almaktadır.
p>This thesis is based on research carried out on RAF bases in the UK. The man part of the formal research (80%) was carried out on a large operational base in the west of England, anonymised here as RAF Blyton; the remaining 20% was carried out on a remote Scottish base, anonymised as RAF Rockall. Additional observational material was collected at a base in the midland area of England, anonymised as RAF Culswick.
Studies of military wives and families, although not numerous, do exist, tending towards a broad sweep of the issues affecting families. This research is unique in its focus on the married 'patch' and particularly life in the married quarter, and how wives are shaped and survive in this environment. Also unusual is the emphasis of three key issues, emerging as close to wives' hearts. Rather than concentrating on the job, the focus is on marriage, friendship and community. Differences between the experience of wives of officers and non-commissioned personnel is another feature not present in detail in any other study.
The study found that wives foster an ambiguous love/hate relationship with the RAF, and that wives are agents, who despite constraints imposed by military life (and awareness of conflict with prevailing social trends) can make important decisions regarding their contribution to and experience of military life. Due to mobility, managing friendships is found to be vital to wives, in the absence of other channels of support. Sadness caused by the superficiality of acquaintanceship and feelings of rootlessness within a community of mobile individuals is highlighted. Formal and informal social arrangements are identified and as desire to belong to the RAF community in different capacities is reported, due to husbands' intense involvement with the job, and distance from family roots. High participation in events on the base is not always found to correspond to high feelings of integration, and awareness of a high level of surveillance on the married patch is noted.</p
“Everywhere and in all ages people have formed this very same tie with each other—this tie that is not based on the binding forces of kinship, marriage, or romance” (Brenton, 1974, p. 14). The tie to which Brenton refers is friendship. Friendship has been described as the most voluntary relationship (e.g., Brenton, 1974; Rose, 1984; Wiseman, 1986). Unlike husbands and wives, friends are not under societal or contractual obligations to one another. Nor do friends encounter the social pressures inherent in dating and familial relationships. Friendships also differ from work or team relationships, where a common task or goal ensures the continuation of the relationship. Yet many friendships endure. According to (Wiseman (1986)), “A major and unique aspect of friendship is the absence of formal bonds during maintenance of an intimate stable relationship” (p. 191).
Friends-they are generous and cooperative with each other in ways that appear to defy standard evolutionary expectations, frequently sacrificing for one another without concern for past behaviors or future consequences. In this fascinating multidisciplinary study, Daniel J. Hruschka synthesizes an array of cross-cultural, experimental, and ethnographic data to understand the broad meaning of friendship, how it develops, how it interfaces with kinship and romantic relationships, and how it differs from place to place. Hruschka argues that friendship is a special form of reciprocal altruism based not on tit-for-tat accounting or forward-looking rationality, but rather on mutual goodwill that is built up along the way in human relationships.
The current research examined the novel hypothesis that a romantic partner’s same-sex friends can elicit jealousy by threatening people’s central role in their partner’s life. Thus, we expected that people whose partners were highly central to their lives would be particularly likely to experience jealousy towards their partner’s same-sex friends and that jealousy would be exacerbated when they had reason to doubt their partner’s commitment. Two studies supported our hypotheses. This research highlights how people alter perceptions of their partner’s broader social context to minimize perceived threats to their romantic relationships.
When people are asked what gives their lives meaning or what gives them joy or happiness, friends are invariably near the top, if not at the top of the list (see Fehr, 1996). When people's day-to-day interactions are tracked and they are asked, at random times, to report on what they are doing at the moment, with whom, and how they feel, it is time with friends that is associated with the greatest enjoyment and pleasure – even more so than time spent with family or alone (Larson & Bradney, 1988). Although friendship has frequently been described as the “neglected relationship,” the research that is accumulating clearly shows that friendships are cherished, valued, and of central importance in people's lives. Indeed, when Berscheid and colleagues (1989) asked undergraduate students to name “their closest, deepest, most involved, and most intimate relationship,” 47% nominated a romantic relationship; a substantial 36% named a friend – family relationships, listed by only 14% of respondents, ranked third (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989). Thus, the dominant melody line in friendship is one of intimacy, closeness, happiness, and enjoyment. However, there is also another, contrasting melody line – a dark and lugubrious counterpoint. When Leary and colleagues (1998) asked undergraduate students to describe “a specific time when someone else said or did something that hurt your feelings,” that “someone” was most likely to be a close friend (39%), followed by a romantic partner (32%); acquaintances (12%) and family members (10%) were listed much less frequently (Leary, Springer, Negel, Ansell, & Evans, 1998).
Data on the number of adults that an individual contacts at least once a month in a set of British populations yield estimates of network sizes that correspond closely to those of the typical "sympathy group" size in humans. Men and women do not differ in their total network size, but women have more females and more kin in their networks than men do. Kin account for a significantly higher proportion of network members than would be expected by chance. The number of kin in the network increases in proportion to the size of the family; as a result, people from large families have proportionately fewer non-kin in their networks, suggesting that there is either a time constraint or a cognitive constraint on network size. A small inner clique of the network functions as a support group from whom an individual is particularly likely to seek advice or assistance in time of need. Kin do not account for a significantly higher proportion of the support clique than they do for the wider network of regular social contacts for either men or women, but each sex exhibits a strong preference for members of their own sex.
This study identifies contradictions in married partners’ accounts of their relationship and assesses the importance of the tensions at beginning, middle, and present relational turning points. Overall, autonomy‐connection was the most frequently experienced contradiction, however openness‐closedness was perceived as the most important tension. When looking at gender differences, results showed that internal tensions were equally important for both husbands and wives, however external tensions of inclusion‐seclusion and revealment‐concealment were more important for wives than husbands.
We extend the routine activity perspective's situational analysis of crime to individual offending and to a broad range of deviant behaviors. In this view, unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of authority figures presents opportunities for deviance: In the presence of peers, deviant acts will be easier and more rewarding; the absence of authority figures reduces the potential for social control responses to deviance; and the lack of structure leaves rime available for deviant behavior. To determine whether individuals who spend more time in unstructured socializing activities engage in deviant behaviors more frequently, we analyzed within-individual changes in routine activities and deviance across five waves of data for a national sample of more than 1,700 18- to 26-year-olds. Participation in these routine activities was strongly associated with criminal behavior, heavy alcohol use, use of marijuana and other illicit drugs, and dangerous driving. Furthermore, routine activities accounted for a substantial portion of the association between these deviant behaviors and age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
Describes a rationale and process for social structural research using social network analysis. Data from an exploratory study analyzing leisure behaviors as the outcome of affective social relationships linked in structural network patterns are presented. Results suggest that network relationships both facilitate and constrain the social behaviors of leisure. Analyzing patterns of relationships within network contexts has implications for better understanding leisure choices and involvements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Research indicates that friendship contributes to wellbeing in later life in various ways: through the provision of companionship in daily life, support during stressful transitions, sustainment of identity under changing circumstances and adaptation to old age. However not all older people have friends available who fulfil these different functions. In order to promote wellbeing and reduce loneliness, an educational programme on friendship enrichment for older women has been developed and implemented in the Netherlands. The friendship programme's main goal is empowerment; it helps women clarify their needs in friendship, analyse their current social network, set goals in friendship and develop strategies to achieve goals. Reduction of loneliness, when present, is also an important goal of the programme. A study that followed 40 participants during the year after the programme demonstrates that a majority succeeded in developing new, or improving existing, friendships and in significantly reducing their loneliness. They also reported changes related to the self and social behaviour. Limitations of the research design, reflection on the feasibility of reducing loneliness through a single type of intervention, and possible applications of the programme's design to other areas, are presented in the discussion.
We generate models predicting wives' and husbands' feelings of overall balance across roles. Drawing on fine-grained data about marital lifestyles and time use, we find few predictors that are the same for both partners. Both report greater role balance when their level of parental attachment to children is higher and when their marital satisfaction is greater, but gendered time use gives rise to important differences. Wives report greater balance when they have more paid work hours but have fewer of these hours on weekends. Wives' balance is also greater when they feel less financial strain, have less leisure time alone with their children, more couple leisure alone with their husbands, and more social network involvement. Husbands' contribute to wives' balance when they report more relationship maintenance in the marriage and more leisure with their children at those times when wives are not present. Husbands' own role balance increases as their income rises, but it decreases as their work hours rise. Husbands' balance also rises with more nuclear family leisure, and it lessens as their leisure alone increases. Our discussion highlights the ways that gendered marital roles lead to these different correlates of balance.
This study provides descriptive data that contrast patterns of friendship for men and women in Russia and the United States, based on a parallel survey conducted at comparable universities in the two countries. Both cultural and gender differences were observed. Russians reported fewer friends with whom they shared less personal information than did Americans, and women in both societies reported that their friendships are more conversation-focused and intimate than mens. In addition, interactive effects of culture and gender were apparent in patterns of cross-gender friendships. Numerous explanations for these patterns—including differences in the social and political histories of the two countries and in the relative importance of gender role distinctions—are discussed.
Women after 50 show a new vigor in their friendships. The second half of life elicits review and contemplation concerning where one has been and also, sometimes, decision and change concerning the personal priorities that will guide the remaining decades. New perspectives of the self and intimacy emerge. As time becomes more valuable, choices about how and with whom
to spend it become more pressing. As women assess their lives, they also take stock of their friendships, often making deliberate and clear-eyed decisions about where to increase and reduce their emotional investment. Old friendships may be realibrated or new ones sought to match fresh views of the self and relationships. What does not change is the immense importancewomen attach to their friendships. Commitment to the role of friend is even more predictive than income or marital status in the
determination of older women’s life satisfaction (Trotman & Brody, 2002).
This article focuses on dynamics of economic decisions within private households. A review of the available literature on household decision making shows that it is important to investigate whether or not the history of past decisions influences ongoing decisions. Moreover, interaction processes between partners should be studied by analyzing tactics which partners use to influence each other. In order to realize these aims it is necessary to understand economic decisions as processes which are embedded in the everyday affairs within the household. Before, during and after an economic decision a series of activities occur between partners all of which may have an impact on the dynamics of economic decision making. This conceptualization of economic decisions at home calls for a specific technique that allows us to capture daily routines in full, or at least those decision processes which proceed simultaneously to a specific economic decision. The couple experiences diary seems to be the appropriate technique. Since it is hypothesized that the influence of a partner depends strongly on his or her influence in the past, it is necessary to take account of both economic and non-economic decisions over a long period of time. Moreover, it is hypothesized that the regulation of influence depends on the quality of the relationship and power structure. Besides the diary a set of tests must therefore be applied to measure relationship quality and power differences between the spouses.
From childhood to old age people spend increasing amounts of their waking hours alone. This paper examines this enlarging solitary part of daily life as a distinct “experiential niche” having unique potentials and liabilities. The paper synthesizes a program of research in which people of different ages have provided reports on their experiences at random times during the day, including times when they are alone. Findings show that the immediate experience of daily solitude is usually one of loneliness and passivity. This is particularly true in adolescence; for older samples aloneness becomes both more common and less emotionally negative. At the same time, adolescents who spend at least some portion of their time alone appear to be better adjusted, perhaps because solitude facilitates the adolescent developmental tasks of individuation and identity formation, while in adulthood and old age, spending large amounts of time alone is more likely to be correlated with poor adjustment.
The authors examined same- and cross-gender friendship norms in a sample of 135 adults (average age 73 years). Participants evaluated a friend's behavior, quantitatively and qualitatively, in vignettes in which the friend's gender was experimentally manipulated. Gender often significantly, though modestly, influenced normative evaluations. Women frequently had higher expectations of friends than men and placed a greater emphasis on intimacy. Women were more disapproving of violations of friendship rules, such as betraying a confidence, paying a surprise visit, and failing to stand up for a friend in public. However, both men and women were less approving of a man than a woman who greets another friend with a kiss or who requests to stay overnight. Respondents' open-ended comments reflected positive attitudes regarding cross-gender friendships. Most findings demonstrated that men and women across a wide age range held similar cultural norms for close ties, norms of trust, commitment, and respect.
Seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre setzt die Forschungs- Technologie- und Innovationspolitik zunehmend auf so genannte Multi-Akteur-/Multi-Maßnahmen-Programme, die einen strukturellen Wandel in Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft durch Bildung von Innovationsnetzwerken bewirken sollen. Da die geförderten Initiativen - häufig als "Kompetenzzentren" oder "Kompetenznetzwerke" bezeichnet - sehr komplex sind, ergibt sich für die Evaluation eine besondere Situation, die sich von klassischen Programmevaluationen beziehungsweise Wirkungsanalysen unterscheidet. Dieses Buch zeigt das Spektrum und die Herausforderungen der unterschiedlichen Ansätze zur Evaluation derartiger Programme auf.
The self-concept is a social, flexible construct that shifts in response to the salience of a relationship partner. Three related experiments found that the tendency to pursue closeness in relationships (as measured by attachment style) served as a moderator of the shift. Specifically, individuals who avoid closeness in relationships became less similar to salient friends via contrast effects, whereas those who pursued closeness in relationships became more similar to salient friends via assimilation effects. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the nature of the self-concept and the importance of friendships.
Participants were 57 U.S. college students and 56 Polish university students and copper mine workers who judged the intimacy of 9 hypothetical relationships and also rated the intensity of their relationships with a best friend, a friend, and an acquaintance on the Friendship Intensity Measurement Scale (FIMS; T. S. Arunkumar & B. Dharmangadan, 2001). The present results confirmed that people perceive (a) relationships with best friends as more intense and intimate than other friendships and (b) other friendships as more intense and intimate than acquaintanceships. The results also indicated that Americans perceive all of their relationships, ranging from mere acquaintanceships to intimate friendships, as more intense and intimate than do Poles. It was somewhat surprising that there were no sex differences in either country in the perception of relationships. The authors discussed the research in the context of the difficulty of defining what friendship is and how an individual's cultural background might interact with person variables such as age and sex.
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