ABSTRACT
Although social organization may not diminish children’s basic need for friends or the quality of their friendships, cultural differences may exist in terms of people’s expectations of their friends. Not surprisingly, in certain collectivistic cultures, the extended family may provide much of the
supportive role that friendship assumes in North America, as in DeRosier’s (1989) study of the social networks of Costa Rican children, or in Westen’s (1995) study of Canadian children of East Asian origin. In some societies, friends may tend to provide more tangible, practical help than anything else; in others, friends may provide more emotional support and guidance (Cohen, 1966; Krappmann, 1996). Krappmann (1996) offers some interesting speculations about the possible constraints on children’s friendships in collectivistic cultures. Out of necessity, more of his arguments are based on theory and on research conducted with adults rather than on studies of children’s friendships.
