Article Friendship standards: The dimensions of ideal

This multi-study investigation identified and confirmed the factor structure of ideal friend-ship standards. Study 1 (N 307) conducted an exploratory factor analysis on 30 existing subscales of friendship expectations. Study 2 (N 401) reduced 181 items from past sub-scales and single-item measures of friendship expectations to 51 items measuring six fac-tors. Study 3 (N 668) used an international internet sample to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis on the six factor model. Samples from studies 2 and 3 were combined and factorial invariance was demonstrated by sample, by participant sex, and by age. The six factors of expectations (i.e., symmetrical reciprocity, agency, enjoyment, instrumental aid, similarity, and communion) constitute the ideal standards of friendship. Keywords Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, friendship expectations, friendship standards, measurement In forming and maintaining friendships, individuals develop expectations about how friends ought to be and ought to behave (La Gaipa, 1987; Wiseman, 1986). Friendship expectations are defined as cognitive conceptualizations about attributes individuals would like their friends to possess and behaviors individuals would like their friends to enact (Hall, 2011). Collectively, these expectations create a standard against which current and new friendships are judged (Fehr, 1996; Hall, Larson, &Watts, 2011). While meeting or exceeding friendship expectations is a strong predictor of friendship satis-faction (Hall et al., 2011), violations of friendship norms (Felmlee, 1999) and rules Corresponding author