Hello! I'm doing a research for my psychology licence on personal lending between two peolpe and how default affects the relationship between them. I am looking after a scale that measures the ''breakdown'' in their interpersonal relationship (mostly their friendship, in term of closeness, trust, avoidance, negative feelings etc) and I can't find any. Any scale suggestions will be more than welcomed!
Hello Culda Laura,
There were similar questions on ResearchGate - there might be something helpful in the responses:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Where_can_I_find_a_copy_of_the_Friendship_Quality_Scale
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Where_can_I_find_friendship_quality_scale
Very best wishes with your research,
Mary
Dear Culda.
You ask if there Is any scale that measures the quality of friendship when an argument was involved, or, in other words, how could one assess the quality of friendship where a conflict between two friends occurs?
I do not know any scale to assess the quality of friendship when a dispute or an argument in involved. I even think that, because the quality of friendship is a complex psychological phenomenon, no psychometric scale would be suitable for assessing the quality of friendship when a dispute or an argument is involved.
Are you acquainted with Robert Selman's work, namely with his book, The growth of interpersonal understanding (1980), NY: Academic Press? As friendship revolves around interpersonal understanding, Selman's (1980) book is also focused on the quality of one's conception of friendship, namely when a conflict between two friends arises. In Selman's theory, one conception of friendship is not assessed through a psychometric scale or questionnaire, but through a semi-structured clinical interview. I even would add that one's conception of friendship assessed through a psychometric scale or questionnaire risks being assessed through a shallow or superficial tool.
Let's image that you ask to one of two friends whose friendship is at risk the following question: "Can you tell me how your friendship with your friend can be restored? Why this is so?"
Consider the following answer: "My friendship with my friend is restored once s/he wants to play again with me". This response would be based on a level 1 conception of friendship. That is, friendship is based on spatial proximity, such as is the case when an individual plays, for example, cards or chess with another.Once spatial proximity ends there is no friendship anymore. As you certainly see, this is an elementary conception of friendship. It is likely to be found in young children .
Think now of the following answer: "My friendship with my friend is restored once s/he starts to always do what I want and wish". This would be a level 2 conception of friendship. That is, friendship is based now on an unilateral relationship. Although more developed than the previous one, this conception of friendship is still relatively rudimentary for it is guided by the idea of an unilateral relation. Our friends are those who are likely to do what we want them to do, namely, those who fulfill our needs and desires.
Think now of the following answer: "My friendship with my friend is restored once we try to achieve something that we both want and like, for example, when we agree on being friends again. This response would be based on a level 3 conception of friendship. Instead of based on the idea of an unilateral relationship, this conception of friendship it is rather based on the idea of a mutual and reciprocal relationship and interpersonal understanding. Needless to say, friendship based on a reciprocal and mutual relationship and interpersonal understanding is more developed than that based on unilateral relationships. Also, the former is more likely to appear in high than elementary school students.
Think now of the following answer: "My friendship with my friend is restored once we both recognize that friendship is much above a possible conflict between two friends" This response is based on a level 4 conception of friendship. Instead of being based on an idea of a unilateral relationship, or even a mutual relationship and interpersonal understanding, friendship is now guided by the idea of a universal value that does not cease when a particular friendship comes to an end. Level 4 conceptions of friendship are really advanced in terms of interpersonal understanding. At this level, we may say that friends are, as it were, true friends.
Consider now the following answer: " My friendship with my friend is restored once we both come to recognize that each of us can have a friendship relationship even with people who are not friends of us both. This response is based on a level 5 conception of friendship. In other words, at this level, friends are aware that they are interdependent qua friends but autonomous qua individuals. It has been be found that this conception of friendship is only at the reach of late adolescents and adults.
I think that Selman's seminal work on the growth of interpersonal understanding may be a theoretical framework for you to conceptualize your questions. If you read the above mentioned book, I think that you will be capable of performing his semi-structural interview.
I hope that I have got your question and that this helps.
Best regards.
Hello Culda Laura,
Could you specify what covariates would explain your concept of Friendship? Would be any relationship a kind of 'friendship'? When friendship starts, when its ends? I would suggest some works of Kurt Lewin on Force Field Theory. Old work but still in use, just to match the virtual space for the research. Terms like 'happines' or 'loyality' in work like FQUA, may 'match' the subject, but... If you consider matter of defensiveness or cognitive dissonance in human relations, then you may end up with generalities. Lewin in his work did not proposed some 'exact' scale, although his method could help you match ongoing changes in human relations.
Sincerely,
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