Abstract
Throughout the world, children seek out friendships and friendships develop naturally over time. Despite cultural differences, friendships are founded on several core features that transcend cultural boundaries, including reciprocity, mutual liking, and similarity. Theories of childhood friendship began with the work of Harry Stack Sullivan in the 1950s and have developed more broadly since the 1970s. Childhood friendships are typically evaluated based on prevalence, characteristics, stability, and quality. Friendships are beneficial for children's social and emotional development, and may buffer children against the negative life events.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 442-447 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780080970875 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780080970868 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 26 2015 |
Keywords
- Child development
- Childhood friendship
- Cultural variations
- Friendship
- Friendship quality
- Friendship stability
- Friendship theories
- Harry Stack Sullivan
- Piaget
- Willard W. Hartup
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences