You probably know intuitively what lots of research has shown - friends are often similar to each other in many ways. They often share attitudes, values, and interests. They are often the same sex and about the same age. Of course, there are lots of fascinating exceptions. The general rule, though, is not surprising.
But would it apply to the ways that friends interpret their interpersonal worlds? Even without consulting with each other, would two friends look at the same facial expression or body posture and think the same thing about what that person was feeling?
I would be curious to see how the findings of this study would be changed if the participants where online friends; in other words ones that have never met face to face. I have many online friends, a few that I consider good friends, and 1 or 2 (maybe 3) I consider close friends (friends that I talk to everyday, that know the happenings of my everyday life, have been a support system when life gets chaotic, and I have spoken to on the phone.)
I would assume that the basis of our friendships would be similar if not the same, shared attitudes, values, and interests. So would we interpret the presented data the same?
Something new is happening among scholars and in society more generally. After decades of obsessing about romantic relationships, more and more people are recognizing the importance of friendship in so many of our lives - including the lives of people who are single and coupled. For a very long time, hardly anyone asked me about the friendship theme in the research I had conducted over the past decades. Now, I get asked about that much more often.
I remember many moons ago the rage about the hows and whys of romance and what it all meant. I find it interesting that the author is now seeing a shift in this pattern. Is it because people are beginning to see the importance of friendship in their daily lives as opposed to having that one true soul mate?
What Friends Know that Others Don’t | Psychology Today
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