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Personality similarity and friendship choices by adolescents
Author(s) -
Duck Steven W.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2420050308
Subject(s) - friendship , similarity (geometry) , psychology , construct (python library) , personality , social psychology , developmental psychology , unitary state , relevance (law) , artificial intelligence , computer science , political science , law , image (mathematics) , programming language
In a study designed to examine the nature of the relationship between personality similarity and established friendships amongst adolescents, three groups of frequently interacting subjects of different ages were given Reptests (Kelly, 1955) as a means of eliciting the content of their personal construct systems. In all three groups (early‐, mid‐ and late‐adolescence), pairs of friends were found to have more similar constructs than nominal pairs of group members. However, there were age‐related differences in the kinds of construct on which the similarity was most significant (for example, similarity on constructs relating to factual description predicted friendship choices in early adolescence but failed to do so in later adolescence, where similarity of constructs concerning physical attributes was a relevant factor). Sex‐differences in the functional basis of friendship were also found, with mid‐ and late‐adolescent girls' friendship choices correlating with similarity of psychological description. Temporal and sex differences in the basis of friendship suggest that the concept of ‘friendship’ must be seen as more differentiated and less unitary a concept. Adolescent friendship illuminates several dimensions along which this differentiation assumes both theoretical importance and functional relevance.