Be There For Me and I Will Be There For You: Friendship Maintenance Mediates the Relationship Between Capitalization and Happiness

Melikşah Demir, Alexandra Tyra, Ayça Özen-Çıplak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Friends share positive events with each other, and the perception of the responses as active and constructive (i.e., enthusiastic) is related to happiness. Two studies (N = 685) investigated friendship maintenance (FM) in same-sex best friendships as the mediator of the relationship between perceived responses to capitalization attempts (PRCA) and happiness. Results in both studies showed that PRCA was positively related to FM, and that FM explained why PRCA was associated with happiness, even when different measures of happiness were utilized. Although women reported higher levels of PRCA and FM compared to men, the associations of the friendship experiences with happiness were similar and the model was supported for both women and men. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of understanding the role of friendship experiences in the capitalization process. Also, directions for future research were provided.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)449-469
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Happiness Studies
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 15 2019

Keywords

  • Bootstrapping
  • Friendship maintenance
  • Happiness
  • Perceived responses to capitalization attempts
  • Same-sex friendship

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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