Influence Of Proximity, Familiarity, And Communication On Friendship In Young Adults: An Essay.

Definition of Friendship

As a person transits into the young adulthood, they begin to experience of loosening of emotional ties with parents, friends and family member as the immediate environment of the individual undergoes dynamic changes (Berndt, 2018). Changes such as job opportunities, persuasion of higher studies, opportunities for professional development often leads to changes in residence, preferences, priorities and commitments. These changes are considerable enough to disrupt the individual’s social circle and network of peers and kin-associates, which creates the provision for the formation of new friendships and peer relationships (Berndt, 2018).

According to the American Psychological Association dictionary, friendship is defined as “a voluntary relationship between two or more people that is relatively long-lasting and in which those involved ten to be concerned with meeting each other’s needs and interests as well as satisfying their own desires.” It is essential to study about friendship in young adulthood as it forms one of the bases for emotional connection, social identity, and feelings of connectedness and imparts a sense of direction in the young adults. According to studies, certain factors that influence attraction and interpersonal relationship in social context are proximity, familiarity, similarity, reinforcement, reciprocal liking, complementarity and propinquity.

According to the principle of attraction, people who are seen repeatedly are rated more favourably as compared to people who are seen less. Similarly, proximity effect refers to the building of positive bond on spending quality time with an individual. Familiarity and proximity are two such important factors which are interrelated creating a milieu for facilitative communication. Communication is essential to create and maintain a ground for a strong interpersonal relationship, which manifests as friendship.

The impact of familiarity is demonstrated in repetitive interaction that enhances cohesiveness, physical closeness or proximity, similarity in interests, goals, preferences, belief systems and values and the mutual ability to satisfy each other’s interest (Huang, Ledgerwood & Eastwick, 2020). Studies on attraction leading to the formation of romantic and platonic relationship pointed at increased proportion of shared attitudes positively correlates to interpersonal attraction and increase the propensity of the development of friendship.

As young adults are relatively free from obligations of social identity and role development like professional advancement, marriage and parenthood, therefore friendship building is comparatively easier. Gender differences in friendship pattern are evident in parameters like the manner of expression, personal orientation, voluntary interdependence, co-dependence, and the communicative skills used (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2012). Studies have revealed that female friendships are generally stronger than those of men in parameters of voluntary interdependence and person-to-person interaction (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2012). According to studies, when the young adults merge into adulthood events like marriage, parenthood and acceleration in career development leads to fewer cross-gender friendship. Reports also outline factors like consistent preoccupation with career and professional development leaves little time for the young adults to cultivate superficial friendship. Personalised environment and openness are two conducive components in the development of a close friendship which are not available to the young adults who are engaged in self-development and up-gradation. The environment for the development of female adult friendship is complex. For instance, the quality and quantity of adult female friendship is not interrupted by marriage. However, the arrival of children is reported to be accompanied by decrease in the number of friendship. The challenges faced by first time young parents in bringing up their children also interfere with the leisure of developing new friendships and maintaining old friendships.

Factors that Influence Attraction in Social Context

In the light of the gathered literature, this current qualitative research aims to study the influence of factors like proximity, familiarity and levels of communication on the quality friendship in young female adults. The use of thematic analysis will help the researcher identify and highlight patterns and themes in the friendship experienced by young adult females and establish a general idea about the factors that influence friendship in young adulthood.

The aim of the research is to understand how factors like proximity, familiarity and communication levels interact among each other to predict the quality and development of friendship in young adults.

Is there any influence of proximity, communication levels and familiarity in the development and mainatainence of friendship in young adults?

The method that has been followed in this qualitative research is thematic analysis of the data that has been gathered through interview (Azungah, 2018). The design involved interviewing a young adult of 25 years old on the experience of friendship across developmental milestones like childhood, adolescents and adulthood. A deductive approach had been followed as inductive approach is time consuming and the approach will allow the researcher to explain a causal relationship between variables which can be generalizable to some extent. Another advantage of using the deductive approach in data analysis is the abundance of sources of data and the possibility to avoid the risk of acceptance of null hypothesis (Armat et al., 2018). Therefore, as the aim of the study is to establish the relationship between the variables and test a hypothesis, the deductive approach is appropriate. A semantic approach has been taken in the analysing the explicit contents and developing codes from the same. The semantic approach is also time-efficient (Ercan, 2011).

Purposive sampling was used in which a female young adult participant was chosen. The participant was a 25 year old mother of a little boy who had just finished the first semester in applied psychology course that she is pursuing. The name of the participant is not revealed to ensure confidentiality.

The data was gathered and analysed in the following step-wise fashion: First, through the process of purposive sampling, a female young adult participant was chosen for an interview on the theme of friendship. Second, the aims, objective, procedure, data gathering and retention process, risks involved in the research, scope and limitations of confidentiality was explained to the participant and a written consent was elicited from her before the interview began. Third, a safe, comfortable, interference-resistant environment had been chosen to conduct the interview. The interview began after a workable rapport was built with the participant. A semi-structured interview was conducted, retaining the flow and naturalness of the conversation with the participant. Fourth, once the interview data was gathered, the researcher familiarized with the data by transcribing the audio into a readable text and taking initial notes about the data (Ezzy, 2013). Fifth, through the process of deductive reasoning, the data that supported the three predetermined themes in friendship were explored (Graue, 2015). The relevant data was coded and the codes were categorized into the three themes which appeared frequently in the data (Graue, 2015).  Sixth, the generated supporting data on the three chosen themes are identified, named and explored with empirical support.

Friendship Pattern in Young Adults

Familiarity refers to the perceived feelings of comfort and knowingness with another individual which increases with repeated exposure and emotional engagement.

Researches on attraction in the field of social psychology states that perceived similarity leads to the assumption that two people have more in common, facilitating a positive and comfortable interactions. When one individual is repeatedly exposed to another individual, the individual engages in positive interaction and identifies similarity that breeds attachment and attraction in both friendship and romantic relationship. Perceived familiarity is promoted through the mutual sharing of one’s preferences, aspirations, belief system, attitudes and values (van Heerden & Bharuthram, 2021). When two individuals share interests, they recognize the familiarity in their personality which creates the foundation for further conversation and enhances friendship. The theme of familiarity has emerged several times through the interview. The participant mentions in line 48 that her friendship with her friend began as they were “both in the same research methods class.” She further mentions in line 50 that “she was a mum, I was a mum.” Furthermore, she mentions that the fact that they both had children of almost the same age and as their own age were almost same, their friendships initiated on the common grounds of both being married and having a kid. She mentions in line 69, “like I’m twenty five and she’s, I think she’s about twenty five, twenty six and we both had you know a child.” She also mentions in line 128, “I wanna go to college because I wanna’, I said ‘I wanna go and, I wanna study psychology and stuff’ and she went ‘I’ve got a psychology degree’ and it was like ‘oh my god’, we got quite close, she’s got a psychology and biology degree…”

A study by Finkel et al. (2015) explored familiarity in relationships through three distinct stages which are awareness, surface contact and mutuality. The study outcomes suggested that familiarity in interpersonal relationship depends on both the nature and stage of relationship between the perceiver and the target. This study findings have been substantiated by the data from the interview where the participant ensured that they repeatedly engage in activities they both preferred like that of going for dinner and going to the pub in the beginning of the friendship to increase their mutual comfort. Therefore, the data supports the empirical finding that perceived familiarity in most influential during the beginning stage of a friendship.

Proximity effect refers to a phenomenon in which physical and psychological closeness facilitates interpersonal attraction and liking. According to Schneider et al. (2012), an increased exposure to an individual enhances pre-existing opinions about that person. However, if the person did not hold any pre-existing opinions about the other individual, increased exposure will lead to the development of positive feelings due to the perceive familiarity and physical proximity. Familiarity is created when an individual gets the opportunities to be exposed to the same individual more frequently. Repeated exposure to reward enhancing positive experiences, accompanied by physical closeness and perceived similarity can lead to the formation of friendship. When two individuals interact in a positively reinforcing environment that elicits positive emotions in both the individuals, it leads to the creation of an interpersonal bond, which is mutually fulfilling and meaningful in nature. In line 49, the participant mentions, “I just remember sitting next to her and we just started talking and she was a mum and I was a mum.” The physical proximity provided them with the opportunity to initiate a conversation and recognise similarities as they explored each other. Furthermore, she also mentions in line 141 that they are living in the same area which again creates the provision for repeated exposure to each other. The lines 86-92 and 99-101 evidently demonstrate that they frequently engage together in activities that they find pleasurable and rewarding (Johnson, n.d.).

Challenges in Maintaining Adult Friendship

Similarly, on the opposite pole, a lack of exposure and proximity results in de-conditioning and stagnation in the friendship. This phenomenon can be recognized in the participant’s narration of how the lack of mobility, medical complications, in another childhood friend of hers decreased their proximity in lines 160-163 hence resulting in drifting apart to other friends. Therefore, it can be concluded that the development of friendship occurs in a constantly evolving dynamic environment that leads to the pruning effect.

Communication is one of the most vital catalysts in the development and mainatainence of friendship. Communication in friendship involves being able to comfortably share through verbal and non-verbal means their values, interests, provide emotional support, express one’s emotions, enhance self-value and provide reassurance (Rawlins, 2017). One of the crucial components in the development of friendship is the gradual and appropriate disclosure of self. The appropriateness of the self-disclosure is dependent on factors like the level of intimacy the both party seeks and the type of relationship between the two (Sprecher, Treger & Wondra, 2013). Therefore, friendship thrives on honest, empathetic, and mutually respectful communication. In the data gathered, it can be noticed that the participant highlights how the relationships were rejuvenated once the communication was initiated over virtual and real media (Antheunis et al., 2012). In line 50, the participant mentioned that she initiated conversation around the commonness between the two. Sustained communication, on virtual or real media is known to improve friendship, while, a lack of open communication can lead to miscommunication, drifting apart, differences and resentments (Bryant & Marmo, 2012).

The chosen methodological approach adopted was deductive analysis of the data. In doing so, three predetermined variables which are expected to have influenced the quality of a young adult friendship had been selected. They are familiarity, proximity and communication levels. These three themes were explored in the data gathered through a semi-structured interview with a 25 year old married participant with a child.

The result of the thematic analysis state that the factors like familiarity, proximity and communication levels positively influence the quality of friendship, not only during the developmental phase but also during mainatainence. During the young adulthood, various factors like dynamic changes in lifestyle, de-prioritizing, modifications in belief systems, values and altering social roles often create a boundary in the formation of friendship. In this context, factors like familiarity hinges on perceived similarity. When perceived similarity is shared between two individuals, an increased feeling of trust, understanding and connectedness is promoted. Familiarity is increased with repeated exposure and engagement in pleasurable, reinforcing activities of mutual choice. Proximity on the other hand allows for the intentional or unintentional physical and psychological closeness, leading to the mutual feelings of comfort, opportunities to exchange common ideas, expression of emotions and reassurance. A friendship gradually develops when the proximity and familiarity is supported by self-disclosure and honest communication aimed at initiation and mainatainence of understanding between the two individuals (Campbell, Holderness & Riggs, 2015). However, it is to be noted that the interaction of these three factors has significant impact on the development of the friendship in the initial stage and is dependent on the level of intimacy desired by both parties. On the other side of the spectrum, a lack of familiarity, decreased communication and proximity can thwart a friendship. These findings are in line with previous findings on the conditioning and de-conditioning of positive emotions with repeated positive experiences, facilitated by social proximity and familiarity. Researches state that the proximity and familiarity is essential for the development and sustenance of meaningful relationships including friendship. The research had been conducted by making appropriate legal and ethical considerations.

Aim of the Qualitative Research

The major limitations of this thematically analytical qualitative research are the sample size, sampling technique used, and scarcity of data and time constraints. The data has been gathered from only one participant, which has invariably led to data scarcity and decreased the generalizability of the research findings. Purposive sampling might lead to skewed results which hamper generalizability. A deductive approach to thematic analysis has been used due to time-constraints which can degrade the reliability and applicability of the research outcome (Mihas, 2019).

Further researches should aim to use a more stringent coding technique for the thematic analysis by using coding technologies to reduce coding errors and follow an inductive approach. Further research can explore the factors which confound friendship and interfere with its development in teenage population. A sample of more than 15 should be used to narrow down the themes and explore them further.

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