By Avi Singh Most of us have friends, people we spend time with, joke around with, and generally enjoy being around. But think about all of your friends, How many of them would you consider to be truly close to you? how many of them would you trust with anything, how many of them do you think would be there when you truly need them? You may be thinking that this doesn't really matter, that lots of somewhat close friends is no different than a few close close friends. However, according to a study by the New York Times, that's not true. This study says that having close friendships is important to our health. The study says that being close to someone is the best way to eliminate distress, so next time you're upset, grab a friend instead of stress eating or binge watching Netflix. If friendship is so important to us, we should be able to easily form close friendships. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have evolved to take a long time to develop close friendships, due to the fact that our ancestors would be safer considering a friend to be a foe than if they confused a foe for a friend. This means that we need to work especially hard to cultivate close friendships, being especially reliable, consistent, and responsive. Doing these things will allow your friends to rely on you more and deepen your friendships, making both of you feel more secure. Another huge part of making a strong friendship is reciprocation. If the friendship is extremely one sided, or one person is putting in all the effort, then the friendship is bound to stay weak. a strong friendship requires giving and taking from both sides to be healthy. This study definitely relates to my life. As I read through the study, I realized more and more that I have been focused a lot on quantity over quality when it comes to friends, and that I'm not truly close to most of them. I am not always able to follow the rules for a strong friendship, and often find myself not seeing much of some friends due to a tight schedule. This study has shown me that spending time with your close friends is important, and I will probably try to do that going forward. I hope that after you read this, you too will make an effort to spend more time strengthening your friendships. Answer that text you were planning to ignore, accept the invitation you were going to decline, or just give an old friend a call. It will help you more than anyone else. Pattee, E. (2019, November 20). How to have closer friendships(And why you need them).
The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/smarter-living/how-to-have-closer-friendships.html CloseDeleteEdit
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Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
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