Friendship and romantic love are two of the most fundamental relationships that human beings engage in. As social animals, most humans are naturally drawn to form bonds of affection with other people. Both friendship and love, however, are difficult to fully define and conceptualize. The fundamental meaning of each has changed throughout the course of human history and appears in different forms among different cultures. Modern interpretations of friendship and love will guide this explication, as we seek to define both terms, the theories behind friendship and love, the attributes of friendship and love, and how both change over time.
Miller (2012) stated that proximity plays an important role in that our friendships and romances tend to grow from interactions with those near us. According to Miller (2012), friendships serve as a “source of pleasure and support” (p.213). People engage in friendship for three basic reasons: for fun, for convenience, and for well-being. It is the last type of friendship that is the deepest and most meaningful. Affection, communion, and companionship are benchmarks for defining friendship, which is considered a “voluntary, personal relationship, typically providing intimacy and assistance, in which two parties like one another and seek each other’s company” (Miller, 2012, p. 213). However, friendship lacks the exclusivity or sexual desires needed and found in romantic relationships (Miller, 2012). Thus, we can clearly define friendship as a
One of the most complicated experiences in life, love cannot be precisely defined, but some basic indications help to characterize the feeling. Love is a very deep, passionate affection one person has for another or a relationship of the same nature that implies a unique intensity of emotion. It requires an especially strong connection and compatibility between two people, usually identified by a total understanding and respect for each other and a fundamental similarity in ideology. Love can also be seen in the way it alters people’s normal behavior; when someone is in love, the object of their affection seems like the most important thing in the world, and they do extreme things for that feeling to be requited. Love cannot easily be
There are over six billion people on Earth today. Each of those people has countless relationships, which extend further into an immense network of relations among thousands of individuals. These relations can be romantic, professional, unconditional, mutual, or the strongest of all, friendship. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism.
Friendship can have a significant impact on a person’s life in a positive and negative way. There are many definitions and types of friendship. In Todd May’s article “Friendship in an Age of Economics,” Aristotle believed that there are three types of friendship which are, “…those of pleasure, those of usefulness, and true friendship” (May). Friendship can be described as a bond between two people that have a connection which includes loyalty, acceptance, trust, and love. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, demonstrates a strong friendship between the main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. Friendship can make people vulnerable in the way they trust, accept and love each other.
Despite the numerous different theories consisting of different stages of friendship they all contain certain aspects of relationships going through stages of increasing familiarity. They all show how we select friends through a stage model and how relationships also break down in stages. They provide Factors that increase friendship like after helping another person we like them more due to feelings and emotions such as empathy, or a decline in a relationship by the need for too much help and support that can cause stress and anxieties. If we feel empathy we are likely to help, and there are several factors that increase chances of friendship,
The human idea of love is quite possibly the most misunderstood in today’s society. Love can be between a man and woman, mother/father and their kids, or even really good friends. However, these relationships of love go through many interactions and stages to start and progress. Many psychological events must occur and be worked through in order to be successful. All relationships must endure the five perspectives of human behavior. These perspectives are biological, learning, social and cultural, cognitive, and psychodynamic influences.
Addressing the family and friends thematic cluster, four authors conclude the importance of personal relationships. Though varied in their theses, tones, and styles, each article stresses that individuals quality of life can be positively affected by taking time for companions and relatives. Nancy Gibbs, writer of “The Magic of a Family Meal,” beautifully illustrates the benefits of eating with loved ones often, while “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman demonstrates the negative effects of making one’s profession a priority over one’s personal life and relationships. Marion Winik in “What Are Friends For?” details the variety and opportunities one has to make friends throughout life. Best friends can persevere through hardships and distance as written in “Friends Forever” by Barbara Hagen. Analyzing these articles substantiated that family and friends are essential to a happy life.
Essay #1 – Comparative Analysis The perception of love and the question of what love is changes in every situation and for every individual. People have different requirements on what they do and don’t consider love. Properties including passion, verbal abuse and violence, while they might differ greatly, are all common occurrences in everyday love stories. Although these differences vary, it is undeniable that love flows through us all in certain ways.
Often times women’s studies are overshadowed by topics pertaining to other matters. Because of this, Steve Duck of University of Iowa calls women’s studies “understudied relationships”. In his book, Under-Studied Relationships: Off the Beaten Track, Steve delves into the complicated world that is friendship between women. He reveals that even the best of friendships, more often than not, will dissolve due to geographical distance, especially during the transition from high school to college. However, Duck claims that this occurrence is more detrimental to male friendships than female friendships. According to Duck, “…men’s inability to maintain distal friends may be due to a lack of awareness about and skills to utilize effective strategies that maintain a [friendship]” (184). This argument implies that men simply do not put as much emotional value into friendships as women do. While distance may seem challenging for women to overcome, they put more effort into preserving their friendship. Duck further instills this concept by explaining that “women’s same-sex friendships tend to be based more on intimate and emotional discussions than men’s…” (186). Men, Duck argues, lack the depth in their friendships that women possess and for this reason have difficulty sustaining a friendship that is met with the strain of distance.
“‘...a misunderstanding of the very notion of friendship in an age when ‘friend’ is used as a verb...the authenticity of one’s relationships has an enormous impact on one’s health and well-being… ‘It’s easier to say what friendship is not and, foremost, it is not instrumental.’” Friendship in this day and age is automatic or online. Friendship should not be unauthentic in a way where it can impact a person’s well-being or health. The connection between two friends needs to be personal and not through a phone or tablet screen. In the 21st century, the word ‘friend’ is being used as a verb and not as a compliment or label.
Some people say that the secret of relationships is desire, but the real secret is friendship. Being friends does not only bring genuine happiness, it also brings the trust of each other. Friendship also brings better health as said in the article The Importance of Friendship written by M.D Saul Levine. In this article Saul states that “close friendships enhance moods and functioning as well as emotional and physical health.” Trust in a relationship is what separates a true friends and acquaintances, you talk to acquaintances but put full trust in what you say to true friends. Friendship not only brings trust, but also brings a companion that shares the same interests as you. Author and M.D Alex Lickerman states in the article What makes a true friend that “it’s probably uncommon for friends to interact on a regular basis if they don't have the same interests.” If people want to have a positive
Merriam-Webster defines a friend as “One attached to another by affection or esteem”. Our success and lives as a whole are altogether based on relationships we create and what we do with them. Communication and the ability to work with others is a basic and required skill in every field of our lives, whether it's applying for a job, meeting with a teacher, talking to a parent or simply spending time with family and friends. It is something taught to preschoolers on their first day and used until their final few. To survive, we must meet “basic needs” known as food, water, shelter and, clothing. Friendship should be acknowledged in this list as a need of each person. By displaying the relationship of Lennie Small and George Milton in Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays this need for friendship. F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays this idea as well through, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. Friendship is a basic need of any human, needed to survive and thrive in our everyday lives.
Without fail, one of the first sections of every psychological exam will include questions surrounding one’s social involvement and friendship. To assess your level of withdrawal from daily life, the test will inquire “Do you have a good friend base?” and “Do you find pleasure in social settings?” Negative answers to these questions ignite a flurry of worry from health care professionals. As writer Edward Hoagland would agree, our life experiences and those of our ancestors have shaped our yearning for human connection and demonstrated the true importance of relationships for survival. As we grow and thrive we crave someone to indulge in; however, when we fall on desperate times we seek the loving eyes of a close confidant. Celie, the narrator
This friendship is a bond "between people who are good and alike in virtue" (NE 1156b). They chose to be friends regardless of utility or pleasure because of their similarities. However, they must be at similar points in their quest for virtue, so that one is not a hindrance to the other. Aristotle explains that these kinds of friendships take time to create because it takes time and work to find the right people and then to forge a long-lasting bond. Therefore, a person cannot have a large number of true friends, because they simply do not have enough time. The true friendships, just like true happiness, are end within themselves, and are not used as a means to achieve some other end. These friendships also include love, as people enjoy being loved for its own sake, "and for this reason it would seem it is something better than being honoured and that friendship is chosen for its own sake" (NE, 1159a). Self-sufficient friendships lead to love which is an indication that both parties are closer to true happiness. They have a constant source of enjoyment for no reason other than they enjoy it. This relationship is distinguished from those between relatives, as a parent loves their child because that child is a part of the parent. Similarly, children are fond of parents simply because the parents are their originator. This love is natural and is not achieved, so it does not help a person live virtuously or achieve happiness. Thus, the goal of a friendship is to achieve a state in which both parties are permanently feeling enjoyment which satisfies them emotionally and intellectually, and brings them closer to
In life there are many changes that can cause a true friendship to go wary such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, new careers, and sickness. However, through each of those events the two must remember to keep the intimacy, the letting down of emotional barriers and the expression of innermost thoughts and feelings, “that which makes friendships thrive must be an enjoyable one” and to “always interact” (Karbo 3). Although psychologists continue to research the formation of friendships the great philosopher Aristotle knew exactly how friendships formed and how the lasted.
When discussing love, people generally think about the love between a husband and wife, or the love between a couple in a romantic partnership, and that is one type of love that I will be discussing. In addition to romantic love, there are other types of love also. There is the love we have for our children, our families, and also the love that we have for our friends. All of these types of love share some of the same attributes, however, they have differences also. In reading and researching different types of love, I have found that romantic love and friendship seem to be the most similar in nature, although they have differences, they share a lot of the same attributes. I found that friendship and romantic love tend to have more similarities than differences. In this paper I will examine romantic love and friendship. I will discuss the definitions of the two, and what elements each of these have. I will discuss the different theories of love, and I will compare and contrast the similarities and differences between romantic love and friendship.