FRIENDSHIP PATTERNS AMONG YOUNG URBAN SINGLE WOMEN (NEW YORK).
Item
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Title
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FRIENDSHIP PATTERNS AMONG YOUNG URBAN SINGLE WOMEN (NEW YORK).
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Identifier
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AAI8319742
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identifier
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8319742
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Creator
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BARKAS, J. L.
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Contributor
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Charles Kadushin
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, General
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Abstract
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In depth interviews were conducted with women between the ages of twenty and forty who live alone on one randomly selected block on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. An analysis and interpretation of the data reveals that the friendship patterns of this sample (N = 27) contradict the literature about female friendships. For the current closest friendships of this sample, 41% are dyads; the remainder are part of triads (22%), or networks (37%). The sample, in general, bases their friendships on: sharing activities and emotional support (85%); on sharing only confidences (7%); and on sharing only activities (7%). Of the fifty closest and failed friendships probed in detail, only two friendships involved rivalry over men.;For this sample population, there are, on average, 1 best, 4 close, 8 casual, and 2 failed friendships. Through reason analysis, why this sample population initiated, maintains, or dissolved their current closest or important failed friendships are explored. Current and failed closest friendships of this sample population differ in the evenness of the friendships, triggering incidents to becoming friends, and the length of time from meeting to becoming friends. The findings of this study on friendship initiation are also compared to the six maxims of the "Like Attracts Like" theory.;Further analysis of the general friendship patterns of this sample reveal that thirteen of the respondents have one to three friendship networks; all the women lack networks based on romantic partners. Contrary to prior research minimizing the role of kin relations for singles, 48% of this sample are close to a nuclear kin relation ("friendly kin relations").;Thus, the social integration of this sample population is generally high, in spite of their living alone or unattached status, not because of one "great friend", but because of the multiplicity of non-romantic relations available to these women, including: work-related acquaintanceships; dyadic, triadic, or network friendships of varying levels of intimacy (best, close, or casual); and friendly kin relations.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Sociology
