Four core themes characterised this study: (a) adult
friendship, particularly across the gender line, (b) the
association between friendship and psychological well-being,
(c) the role of attachment in friendship processes, and (d)
the influence of the boundaries of marriage on friendship.
Twenty six individuals were included in the initial research
and 19 subjects participated in the main study. Theoretical
principles of social cognition, constructive alternativism
and attachment guided the collection and interpretation of
data, which was collated, interpreted and then presented in
case-study format. Self-with-other representation played a
major role in data interpretation.
Investigation into the structure and processes of friendship
revealed it to be a complex and fragile relationship, defined
both idiosyncratically and existentially, as well as
by specific distinguishing features, such as trust, loyalty
and intimacy .
Attachment orientation and positive friendship experiences
were noted as being contributory to the sense of interpersonal
intimacy associated with feelings of well-being.
Positive association was registered between 'secure' attachment
orientation and self-ratings of well-being and
happiness. Opposite-sex friendship emerged as an exclusive
relational type, both similar to, and different from, samesex
friendship and romantic love relationships. Its ambiguous
role is evidently compounded by the latent sexuality in
heterosocial relationships. Respondents reported cases of
opposite-sex friendships metamorphosing into romantic love
relationships and, less frequently, vice versa.
Manifest in attachment and relational mental models, marital
boundaries can facilitate or inhibit friendship. On both
direct- and meta-perspective levels, securely-attached
respondents were relatively accepting of opposite-sex
friendships within a marital context. Insecurely-attached
subjects tended to construe them as threatening to the
marital reality. Responses to this threat varied:
avoidantly-attached individuals used ego-protective
mechanisms such as denial and repression, whereas ยท the
anxious-ambivalent attachment orientation seemed more
closely associated with feelings of mistrust and jealousy,
expressed through anger and anxiety.
Personal boundary structure plays an incisive role ln adult
friendship. Thick-boundaried personalities seemed particularly
conscious of preserving marital identity. They were
more territorial with regard to friendships within the
marital context, and more conscious of social rules pertaining
thereto. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/16726 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Dunstan, Lynn Valerie |
| Contributors | Nieuwoudt, Johannes Marthinus |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (723 leaves) : illustrations |
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