What criteria can be applied to define friendship? Is friendship an object of scholars'/philosophers' thinking? And what does it mean that someone is someone's friend? What are the qualities of friendship? What is the difference between a friend, an acquaintance, and a colleague? Can a wife or husband be a friend at the same time? Or rather, a friend is someone we can unbosom ourselves to when we have problems in relations with a wife or husband?
The appropriate statistical expression of friendship is strong correlation (correlation coefficient = 1)
Best Regards Krzysztof Trzcinski
I tested in a school class friendship with a few questions and then draw a sociogram. One child in the class did not have a single friend. Sociograms can be used scientifically.
If you look up sociogram in google you find a lot of examples and also examples of questions. It is such a long time since I did it but I remember that it was about a possible class voyage such as: with whom do you want to share room and the like.
What criteria can be applied to define friendship?
Loyalty, being there for you in fair weather and stormy weather
Is friendship an object of scholars'/philosophers' thinking?
It is real, not just found in the literature
And what does it mean that someone is someone's friend?
That person can be counted upon in terms of need or crisis
What are the qualities of friendship?
Concern, care, trust
What is the difference between a friend, an acquaintance, and a colleague?
An acquaintance is a casual friend without necessarily having a deeper level of relationship; a friend is someone who is more dependable and trustworthy and would likely to give their shirts off their back, so to say; a colleague is someone who you work with who need be a friend and this relationship is more obligatory than anything else.
Can a wife or husband be a friend at the same time?
Yes, friendship is foremost in an enduring marital relationship.
Or rather, a friend is someone we can unbosom ourselves to when we have problems in relations with a wife or husband?
A friend is also someone who is there to listen to you when you are facing problems including marital difficulties.
Hope this has answered all the questions succinctly.
Social network mapping is a good tool to define friendship, close people around, and levels/resources of support.
My appreciations to you all. But I reiterate my basic question about scientific criteria that might be applied to define friendship.
I would like to differentiate between common feelings concerning friendship and a scholarly perspective.
Friendship can not be defined by scientific criteria because science is relative, friendship is a human trait, and humanity is not accurate
Friendship is a scale. There are, as others have answered, several scientific scales that measure variations in friendship. Although different words might be used as well as different definitions. You cannot impose your individual definition on science - that's not how science works.
Dear Krzysztof:
You ask the following: Can friendship be defined by any scientific criteria.
I do not think that friendship, a form of social interaction among two or several individuals, can be defined by any scientific criteria. Even so, we can think of several types of friendship and hence of friends, For example, the USA psychologist Robert Selman (1980), in this seminal book: The Growth of Interpersonal Understanding. New York: Academic Press, conceptualized five levels of friendship with basis on a semi-structured , among participants of different ages (children, adolescents and adults).
Level 1- oriented friendship. At this level, friendship is based, say, on terms of spatial proximity. Young children generally say that friends are those who are close to, and play with, one another. Friendship ends when, for example, one "friend" goes to a foreign country.
Level 2- oriented friendship. For individuals at this level of friendship, friends are those who do what we want them to do such that they fulfill our needs, desires, and wants, regardless of how egocentric they may be. This is an unilateral form or conception of friendship. Individuals that espouse this conception of friendship are not yet true friends. Children about 8 years of age, are generally, unilateral frends and hence no friends at all.
Level 3- oriented friendship. For individuals at this level of friendship, friends are those with whom we maintain reciprocal relationships in our social interactions. Cildren about 10-12 yeaar of age are, say, reciprocal friends, and hence they begin to be true friends.
Level 4- oriented friendship. For individuals at this level of friendship, friendship is a social and emotional value in itself. In other words, it continues to make sense to speak about friendship even when, for example, two individuals cease to be friends. Adolescents often espouse this relatively sophisticated conception of friendship. It has been found that those who espouse this conception of friendship are, say, true friends,
Level 5- oriented friendship. Individuals at this level of friendship tend to think of friendship as a social and emotional value, attitude, interaction, and so on, based on the interdependency between both friends, and the autononomy of each friend. By definition, friendship involves interdependency and intimacy between friends. But true friends also recognize that, by being friends, individuals do not have to give up their worldview, such as, for example, their political and religious orientation. It has been found that only, say, mature adults can be friends according to this developed conception of friendship.
Because of its intrinsic value, friendship has received considerabe attention on the part of sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, and so on. So, consider this answer as a short answer to your question. Even so, I hope I has got the gist of your question and that this helps.
KInd regards,
Orlando
It can indeed be defined, stratified, itemised and catalogued. Therefore, perhaps it is scientific. Its formation is not.
Friendship is where you can share everything with out any inhibition ,trust and enjoyment
One historical example is friendship between lord Krishna and sudama
Friendship can be defined as that quality of relationship where consciousness, motives, ego, complexes and formalities do not play any role in creating bonding, and developing mutual understanding and respect.
Dear Colleagues,
Many thanks for all the voices and views thus far. Some of them started quite new threads in the discussion of the original question.
It's really interesting to see how different perspectives are represented in this exchange of opinions.
Looking forward to reading new views.
Kind regards,
Krzysztof
The appropriate statistical expression of friendship is strong correlation (correlation coefficient = 1)
Best Regards Krzysztof Trzcinski
You ask, " can friendship be defined by any scientific criteria?". I answer: "of Course you can!"If you ask how to do it I will answer this question!
There exists (by now) no formula for friendship, but Osama Rahil Shaltami made an important point, with his mathematical statement on mutual interaction.
A further eye opener for more methodical research could be the emerging field of:
http://www.humanthermodynamics.com/
Actual measurement of friendship is that by the happiness, entertainment that you really have by his presence, jokes that they are sharing, pleasures that they are having, social support, camaraderie that you are feeling.
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