Friendships

in
Adolescence
Activity # 2
 Write a letter to a person whom you admire. It could be your
bestfriend, a crush or your current boyfriend/ girlfriend. Tell the person how
grateful you are for having him/her in your life. Thank the person for the
good things he/she did to you for the past years.
Friendships
in
Adolescence
• Teenagers see their friends frequently
usually several hours
a day (Hartup, 1993).

• Frie ndships in adole sc ence are diffe re nt

from the friendship in childhood, as
they are more likely to stress the
importance of a cce ptance , se lf-
disclosure, and mutual understanding in
their friendships (Gonza lez e t al 2004) .
• Even though romantic attachme nts
increase during the teen ye ars, most
adolescents still choose me mbers of
their own ge nder as best friends (Kirke ,
2009).

• Teenagers who have close frie ndships

also are more like ly to show advanc ed
stages of identity deve lopment (Be rndt
1992; Bukowski et al. 1993).
 In addition to forming close friendships,
most adolescents belong to one or larger
peer groups, these groups can be cliques
Peer Groups
and crowds.

• CLIQUES consist of five to ten

individuals who hang around and share
activities and confidences.
• CROWDS are larger groups of
individuals who may or may not spend
time together and are identified by the
particular activities or attitudes of the
group. "jocks", "nerds" or "brains."
Aside from platonic friendships,
teenagers tend to be interested
and eventually get involved in
romantic relationships.

According to B. Baskin in his study

entitled Adolescent Romantic Relationship in
2009, adolescent romantic relationships can be
categorized into the following phases:
 • Initiation Phase
It starts from pre-adolescence to early
adolescence. Same-sex peers tend to stay in large
groups. According to B. Baskin provides security
through anonymity as well as opportunities to
observe and make notes about how or should act.
The romantic attention and selection process
during this phase is shallow since romantic
relationships mainly focus on physical
characteristics. They consider partners who have
similar characteristics attractive.
2. Affiliation Phase
Students often gather in mixed-sex groups.
It interact with members of the opposite sex
allows teens to be aware of behavior: and views
of the other sex. They develop, a more
comfortable feeling around the opposite sex and
can beg to connect with them. It is not intimate
and usually focus on social settings such as
school event parties, and breaks between classes.
companionship, rather than intimacy.
3. Intimate Phase
Large group of peers regroups into
opposite-sex pairs. The focus of the paired
relationship is intimacy and often sexual activity.
Unfortunately, because of being inexperience in
this phase, most teens mistook intimacy for
sexual activity. Intimacy can be a part of sexual
activity but not exclusively. The intimacy which
is the deep feelings of emotional attachment often
leads to sexual activity for sex some, which can
be very dangerous.
4. Committed Phase
Adolescent romantic relationships are
established and exclusive. Late adolescents
maintain a committed relationship because of
their capacity to the more caring towards their
romantic partner. They are also better at resolving
conflict within the relationship.
 Love which is considered a powerful
human emotion has three main qualities:

• Attraction is the "chemistry" part of love. It's all

about the physical - even sexual - interest two
people have for each other.

• Closeness is the bond that develops when two

people share thoughtsand feelings they don't
share with anyone else. When you have this
feeling of closeness with your boyfriendor
girlfriend you feel supported, cared for,
understood, and accepted for who you are. Trust
is a big part of this.

• Commitment is the promise or decision to stand

by the other person through the ups and downs of
the relationship.
What Makes a Good
Relationship?
 What Makes a Good
Learning to give and receive.
Relationship?
A healthy relationship is about two people, it doesn't
flourish based on how much one person can get from (or give
to) the other.

Revealing feelings.
A supportive relationship allows people to reveal details
about themselves - their likes and dislikes dreams and worries,
proud moments, disappointments, fears, and weaknesses.

Listening and supporting.

When two people care, they support each other, they don't
malign or insult their partner, even
when they disagree.
Focus on the other person. Tips on how to get started
Ask your date questions about her, find out about her likes
and dislikes.
in dating:
Find non-romantic things to do.
Invite the person to go on a hike with a few other friends or
attend a basketball game at your school

Seek out people who share

your interests.
It is much more interesting and satisfying to date someone
whom you can relate to on a personal level

Don't let rejection get you down.

Learning how to accept rejection without taking it
personally isn't easy, when you ask someone out on a date,
you're taking a risk that he or she will say "no"