ABSTRACT
In many different ways, children demonstrate that their friendships are extremely important to them. They spend a great deal of time with friends (e.g., Ellis, Rogoff, & Cromer, 1981), and report that they are especially happy when they do (Csikszentmihalyi, Larson, & Prescott, 1977). The importance of close friendships is also demonstrated by children’s comments about these relationships. Recently, many researchers have interviewed children and asked them a variety of questions about their friendships. The children’s answers have provided rich and detailed information about the development of friendships between the preschool period and late adolescence (see Bigelow & La Gaipa, 1980; Damon, 1977; Furman & Bierman, 1984; Hartup, 1975, 1978; Hayes, 1978; Hayes, Gershman, & Bolin, 1980; Selman, 1981; Youniss, 1980). To a large degree, our current understanding of the development of friendships is based on children’s statements during interviews of this type.
