Keep thy friends close: Maintenance behaviours, gender differences and contingent self-esteem

Abstract

 Friendship holds a special significance for the kind of satisfaction, growth and support it provides. The impact of friendships intensifies as adolescents move to the stage of young adulthood since they have entered a developmental period characterised by greater independence. Whether friendships sustain or fade away, is determined by the needs they continue to fulfil. The aim of the present study was to determine whether friendship maintenance behaviours predict friendship contingent self-esteem. The study included 120 young adults (60 males and 60 females) ranging in age from 16 to 22 years, who were administered Friendship Maintenance Scale (FMS) (Oswald et al., 2004) and Friendship Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (FCSE) (Cambron et al., 2009). The nature and differences in perception of same-sex and opposite-sex friendships in men and women were also studied. This study, with its contradicting findings from previous studies, opens the door to fresh discourse on whether the shifting concept of gender and the societal landscape actually influence people's perceptions of friendships. The study may reflect how changing societal maps, fluid notions of gender, co-ed systems of education, and the distinctions between same-sex and opposite-sex friendships are changing.