A developmental exploration of friendship functions in women

Interpersonal attachments in adulthood were explored through the investigation of the friendship functions in 172 women from 14 through 80. A priori functions were rated by the respondents on a Likert-Scale for their five best friends. Factor analyses revealed three orthogonal factors which characterized friendship for al l age groups, “intimacy-assistance, ” “status, ” and “power. ” One way analyses of variance (function by age groups) found no significant age differences between age groups for the function of “intimacy-assistance. ” Signif-icant differences for the functions of “status ” and “power ” were, however, apparent, Women from adolescence through the fifties rated their friends as decreasingly less important for “status ” purposes, while women sixty and over rated this function very highly. “Power ” de-creased with increasing age through the fifties. There was a slight nonsignificant increase in the 60+ age group. These findings are discussed in relation to cognitive changes and developmental issues within various life-stages. This study is based in part on a thesis submitted by Sandra Gibbs Candy to th