It is often said that friends are the family we choose, and rightly so. They are the ones who know the best and the worst sides, and despite that, they choose to accept and love us for who we are. However, friendships take time to grow and grow stronger day by day. While some people are good at making friends and making friends with everyone, others take a little longer and only have a few friends. But what makes some people have a lot of friends? And why do some friendships stand the test of time and others don’t?
Analyzing this, a recent study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science identifies seven important ways in which people strengthen their relationships with friends. The study was conducted by Menelaos Apostalo and his team, and they worked on how people used different strategies to strengthen friendships. Their research identified seven main strategies that people often use:
1. Offer of support
2. Increase interaction
3. Maintaining regular communication
4. Presentation of gifts
5. Strengthening of trust
6. Development of family ties
7. Expression of consent
The study also found that supporting each other, especially during difficult times, was one of the main ways in which people became close friends. Some other well-known ways that people strengthened their bonds with friends was by keeping in touch and planning to get together.
However, the study also found that gender, personality type and age influence how they work to connect with friends and strengthen their bonds. For example, women are more likely than men to use all of the above seven strategies in their friendships. Similarly, young adults focused more on building trust and interacting more with others to deepen friendships. Speaking of personality types, a person who is very pleasant with others often uses support to make friends with them. While those who were more open and extroverted used other strategies (of the seven mentioned above) to connect with their friends.
However, the study had some limitations, such as people self-reporting the results may have been inaccurate, and because the study focused more on the Greek-speaking population, it may not reflect the broad results.
Which of the seven key strategies do you use to communicate with your friends? Tell us in the comment box below.
