FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is a term used to refer to a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association. It has been studied in different fields of academics like philosophy, anthropology, social psychology, sociology and communication. There have been different theories that have been proposed involving friendship. These theories include, attachment styles, relational dialectics, equity theory and social exchange theory.
Despite the fact that many forms of friendship exist, some that vary with different places, specific characteristics are common in many types of friendship. These characteristics include affection; love, kindness, empathy, sympathy, altruism, generosity, loyalty, forgiveness, virtue, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of the company of one another, trust, as well as the ability to be oneself, express your feelings to others, and without fear of judgement, make mistakes.
Aristotle described three types of friendships as discussed below:
- Self-interested friendship. It is a fact that some people use others for the sake of their own gain. Some people are comfortable with it to an extent that they do it a lot while others cannot even think of it. Despite the fact that it is always good to expect something from a friendship such as good times, support and trust, some people take advantage to manipulate and flatter you in order for them to get certain kinds of things like recognition and social status.
- Friendships purely for pleasure. This is the type of friendship that mainly occurs as a teenager or a kid. The difference between this kind of friendship and the first one (self-interested friendship), is that in the second kind, all that the friends want is to have a good time, while in the first one, someone is trying to get some few benefits out of the relationship. These friends can be people who live pointless or empty lifestyle where the only reason of spending time together is to have fun or to relax.
- The perfect friendship. This is said to be the most solid kind of friendship. It is also said to be the rarest but it is possible. It is that kind of friendship that goes beyond pleasure or utility. In this kind of friendship, the involved parties appreciate the other persons for who they are. In this friendship generosity is evident due to the fact that neither of the party is interested in getting something out of this friendship. This type of friendship is based on goodness. True friends or perfect friends do not come easy. True friends are the people who you can share memories, promises and experiences with, the kind of friendship that neither distance nor time can break apart.
SIGNS OF A GOOD FRIEND
Friends come and go throughout life. A good friend proves that they care by their actions whether big or small. Some of the good features of a good friend include,
- He/she is always there for you no matter the case.
- One who doesn’t judge you.
- One who doesn’t put you down or hurt your feelings deliberately.
- One who is kind and respectful to you.
- One who is trustworthy and always willing to tell you the truth, irrespective of how hard it is to hear.
- One who sticks with you even when things go tough.
HOW TO BE A GOOD FRIEND
If you treat other people in the manner described above, you are a good friend to them. Below are some of the ways in which you can become a better friend,
- Listen to them. Always attempt to understand a situation from your friend’s point of view.
- Always assist your friends. In case a friend is in need of something, be there to help them.
- Keep in touch. Make sure that you and your friend are in constant communication and many more.
