Browsing by Subject "Friendship"
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Item A study of traits related to friendship selection(Texas Tech University, 1951-08) Holden, Sidney JNot availableItem Activist friendships in the time of burnout : Marilyn Buck and Mariann Wizard, 1966-2010(2016-05) Kramer, Lauren Nicole; Mickenberg, Julia L.; Strong, PaulineDuring the 1960s and 1970s, Marilyn Buck, a white antiracist activist, engaged in activism outside the confines of feminist organizations largely dominated by upper middle-class white women. Marilyn worked in solidarity with both the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) in the Bay Area, operating almost entirely behind the scenes. Following her arrest in 1973 for allegedly purchasing ammunition and weapons for the Black Liberation Army under a false name, she spent nearly the rest of her life in prison, eventually becoming a well-known prison activist and developing a vast network of friends and supporters from all over the world. For the duration of her long and sometimes grueling activist journey, Marilyn completely evaded burnout. Activist burnout poses a serious threat to the survival of social movements, striking even the most seasoned activists. In this thesis, I argue that Marilyn’s talent for creating and maintaining strong relationships played a major role in facilitating her ability to avoid burnout and keep her activist commitments strong. Many have celebrated Marilyn’s activist work and literary achievements, yet her interpersonal strengths must be acknowledged: she managed to build an immense international support network while living behind prison walls. In this multilayered study, I not only analyze Marilyn Buck’s significance as an activist who built an extensive friendship network and maintained an unwavering, lifelong commitment to her beliefs, but I also attempt to understand her life through the double lens of the perspective of her close friend, Mariann Wizard, and my own scholar/activist positionality. I combine the personal with the archival to demonstrate the value of Marilyn and Mariann’s friendship—both for the two of them and for modern-day scholars and activists looking to gain insight on the importance of activist friendships.Item Changes in the friendship network structure as a function of gender, marital status, and gender role attitudes(Texas Tech University, 1985-08) Mizell, Melinda MNot availableItem Close friend activity and marital quality(Texas Tech University, 1995-08) Camp, Brian D.Within the close relationships literature there are two divergent opinions of the association that an extramarital friendship may have with marital quality and each has empirical support. The presence of or interaction with close friends is sometimes associated with more satisfying marriages while other times is associated with less satisfying marriages. This current study provides some insight into how distressed and nondistressed spouses may interact differentially with close others. An adaptation of the Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) model was used in this current investigation to help in predicting how marital quality might be associated with same-sex -extra-marital friendship activity. The SEM model suggests that a person's marital relationship could receive either benefit or detriment from the activities a spouse might engage in with a friend, depending upon the person's opinion of the spouse/friend activity.Item The color of friendship : gender, race/ethnicity, and the relationships between friendship and delinquency(2009-08) Worthen, Meredith Gwynne Fair; Warr, Mark, 1952-Studies investigating the etiology of delinquent involvement have pointed to two influential theories: Differential Association Theory and Social Control Theory. Both theories suggest that bonding can impact delinquent behavior. Strong friend relationships influence delinquent involvement while strong parental relationships serve as a positive influence in the curtailment of adolescent delinquency. Indeed, a great deal of research has shown that both friends and families are an integral part of adolescent delinquent involvement. Although these theories provide us with a framework for understanding adolescent delinquency, the contextual nuances of the connections among friend relationships, parental relationships, and delinquency are still unclear. In this project, I investigate the gender and race/ethnicity of the respondent as well as the predominant race/ethnicity and gender of the respondents’ friendship networks to better understand how both friend and parent-child relationships affect adolescent delinquency. I utilize data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS). Results suggest that both friend relationships and parental relationships impact respondent delinquency; however, such effects differ by the gender and race/ethnicity of the respondent. Furthermore, the predominant race/ethnicity and predominant gender of the respondents’ friendship network appear to effect delinquent involvement for some groups and not others. The exploration of this topic provides a much-needed look into some understudied areas in human behavior. The long-standing tradition of investigating the role of peers in criminal offending has certainly examined the importance of family and the dynamics of friendships. However, few studies have incorporated both gender and race/ethnicity in their investigations into the relationship between friendships and delinquency. In addition, this study is unique in that it examines friendship network characteristics and how they relate to delinquency. Furthermore, this project explores how family and friend influences on delinquent behavior vary across different groups. Neither of these aspects have been adequately explored in past research. It is the purpose of this study to being to fill this gap in the literature and highlight how both gender and race/ethnicity influence involvement in delinquency.Item Differentiating stable and unstable friendships: commitment, investment, and reward(Texas Tech University, 1990-01) Young, Timothy LThe development, maintenance, and dissolution of interpersonal relationships has long been an area of interest in social research. Various rituals have been designed in virtually every culture to promote enduring relationships. Secret oaths, wedding vows, rights of initiation, club pledges and pacts, to name only a few, are all designed to bond people together and provide a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Not all relationships, however, endure. What is it about stable relationships which distinguishes them from unstable relationships in similar circumstances? Some seem capable of surviving the most adverse of circumstances while others are easily shattered. The factors that distinguish enduring from temporary relationships are not completely clear. Even though there has been theoretical interest in the subject of friendship stability, many unanswered questions remain.Item Emerging adult friendship : a consequence of family communication and catalyst for well-being(2012-12) Guinn, Trey D.; Vangelisti, Anita L.; Dailey, Rene M; Daly, John A; Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Whittaker, Tiffany AThe purpose of this research was to examine the friendships of emerging adults as influenced by familial environments in order to illuminate interpersonal aspects of well-being. Recent literature affirms that friendships play a critical role in the lives of emerging adults; these interpersonal connections rely on the use of friendship formation strategies and maintenance behaviors. Employing a longitudinal design that included both participant and peer reports, this study found that individuals’ use of friendship formation strategies and maintenance behaviors contribute to their overall well-being and that the path for maintenance behaviors was partially mediated by relational quality with friends. Further, it was expected that the propensity to engage in friendship work (i.e., formation strategies and maintenance behaviors) would be predicted by communication within the parent-child relationship. Recent scholarship asserts that parent confirmation affects both the socialization and psychosocial development of children. The current work employed a confirmation perspective to assess how families lay the groundwork for emerging adults’ communicative behaviors in friendship and found that parent confirmation predicted individuals’ use of friendship formation and maintenance behaviors. Together, these associations pave a social-cognitive pathway from family and friendship to well-being.Item Emotional intimacy between heterosexual males(Texas Tech University, 1986-08) Todd, TracyNot availableItem Equity theory and friendships in later life(Texas Tech University, 1984-05) Roberto, Karen AThe purpose of the study was to examine the patterns of exchange that exist between older adults and their friends. Using equity theory as the conceptual base, five hypotheses were tested. Variables examined were the amount of distress reported in terms of the overall friend relationship, the helping aspect of the friendship and the affective component of the relationship by those individuals in equitable versus inequitable friendships; equity and friendship satisfaction; and the influence of demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education, income, health, and contact with children) on the equity of exchanges between friends. A random sample of 116 white, urban adults, 65 years of age or older were interviewed for this study. Respondents were asked to discuss their relationship with their best friend and one other friend within their support network. Planned comparisons and Pearson correlations were used to test the first four hypotheses. Results provided support for these hypotheses. Older adults who perceived their relationship as equitable, were less distressed about all aspects of their friendships (i.e., overall, helping, affective) than participants who perceived themselves as being in an inequitable friendship. Pearson correlations showed that the more the respondents perceived themselves being overbenefited or underbenefited, the greater amount of distress they reported. In terms of friendship satisfaction, equity considerations seemed to be more important in the case of the "other" friend than for the "best" friend relationship. The fifth hypothesis was tested by means of a stepwise discriminant analysis. Several demographic variables distinguished between the equity of friendships in later life. Specifically, older males were more likely to perceive themselves in equitable friendships than older females. Respondents who reported frequent contact with their children were also more likely to be involved in equitable friendships. While additional research is necessary, equity theory seems to provide a useful conceptualization from which to examine friend relationships in later life.Item Friendship Stability: Influences of Commitment Level and Reciprocity of Exchange(Texas Tech University, 1982-12) Young, Timothy LNot Available.Item Indices of young adults' social network and friend relationships(Texas Tech University, 1983-05) Cardea, Jane MannweilerThe mid-range theory Consequential Relationism provided conceptual grounding for the empirical investigation of young adults' social network. Data were collected from 288 young, similarly aged adults, 72 males and 72 females from each of two cohorts. It was hypothesized that the numerous variables employed by researchers and clinicians to describe social networks could be reduced to at least two meaningful dimensions labeled structure and process. The hypothesis was confirmed utilizing factor analytic procedures. A second hypothesis stated that empirically defined dimensions could be utilized to predict young adults' personal well being and stress buffering capacities. This hypothesis also was confirmed. Cohort and gender differences were examined across both hypotheses.Item Meeting up : friendship and voluntary organizations in the Internet age(2013-05) Keith, Robyn Alexandra; Williams, Christine L., 1959-Where do people go to meet friends in the digital age? How do people understand with whom they want to be friends? Drawing from qualitative interviews, participant observation, and content analysis, I examine the website Meetup.com, which allows people to search for common interests on the Internet and meet up with groups of people face-to-face. My study offers new insights into why people turn to the Internet to meet new people; how voluntary organizations determine who they want as their members; and how gender and sexuality shape people's friendships and participation in these groups. This thesis has larger implications for the study of friendship, voluntary organizations, social capital, and Internet studies.Item A prayer for me as well : friendship and philosophy in Plato's Phaedrus(2014-05) White, Glenavin Lindley; Woodruff, Paul, 1943-Although Plato's views on Friendship, or philia, are almost always found embedded in discussions of erotic love, I argue that these views nevertheless constitute a clear and compelling picture of the nature and value of the best kinds of friendship. Moreover, I suggest that these views on friendship present us with a surprising insight into Plato's overall conception of the practice of philosophy, as a personal process of striving for knowledge at the center of the best human life. To tease out these views on philia, I begin with a close reading of Plato's Phaedrus. As many have noted, this dialogue appears at first to be strangely disunified: its first half is concerned primarily with giving an account of erotic love, while its second half is devoted to a discussion of the nature and value of rhetoric. I begin by examining the theory of erotic love presented by Socrates in the 'palinode' at the center of the Phaedrus, and arguing that we can begin to see a theory of philia emerging from this account. I then argue that a central element of this theory of philia, as presented in the palinode to love, provides us with a link to the later discussion of rhetoric, and a unifying theme for the Phaedrus as a whole: the knowledge of souls. With this unifying theme in hand, I return to the account of philia, and eros, in the first half of the Phaedrus and, in light of this topic, draw further conclusions about Plato's views of the importance of philia, and eros, to philosophy.Item Rejection sensitivity, self-monitoring, and heterosocial adjustment of young men with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)(2004) Canu, William Henry; Carlson, Caryn L.Item The role of network support and interference in romantic relationship satisfaction: a test of social exchange theory(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Bryan, Laura AnnThis study utilized social exchange theory to examine the associations between the profit (support - interference) from parent/best friend, best friend alternatives, and romantic quality (satisfaction, love). The respondents (n = 177 females) completed a questionnaire packet to assess each of the factors. The results indicated that network profit had no significant relation to romantic relationship satisfaction. Further analyses revealed that alternatives and satisfaction with the best friend moderated the relationship between profit from the parent and love for the romantic partner. Overall, these findings indicated that the relationship with a best fi-iend provides a context for the strength of association between parent profit and romantic quality. This study also highlighted the utility of social exchange theory in studying romantic relationships.Item Young children's collaborative strategies when drawing on the computer with friends and acquaintances(2011-05) Chen, Yi-Jeng, 1974-; Reifel, Robert Stuart; Maloch, Anna E.; Schallert, Diane L.; Brown, Christopher P.; Hughes, JoanThe processes and patterns of collaborative strategies used by children when drawing on the computer with friends and acquaintances were investigated in a case study. The participants were five-and-six-year-old children and the study took place in their home settings. The data collection methods consisted of interviews, observations, audio recordings, video recordings, drawing artifacts, and screen capture. The analysis began with the selection of collaborative episodes, followed by the application of two theoretical frameworks, those of two play theorists Garvey (1990) and Vygotsky (1978) as analytical lenses through which to interpret those episodes. The young children in this study used four levels of collaborative strategies, listed from the simplest to the most complex: 1) division of labor, 2) pretend language use, 3) coherence and elaboration of pretend frames, 4) action games. The findings revealed a striking contrast between the collaboration of friendship pairs and acquaintance pairs. The friendship pairs exhibited a total number of 32 episodes while the acquaintance pairs engaged in only three episodes. The acquaintance pairs applied only the strategy of pretend language use while the friendship pairs used three other more collaborative strategies and their use of collaborative strategies showed unique paths of progression. Furthermore, the acquaintance pairs exhibited mostly uncooperative and uncollaborative behaviors, which were manifested in three major forms: 1) unengaged behavior, 2) over-reliance on the researcher’s technical support, and 3) disagreement and critique. Informed by these findings, five major points are discussed: 1) Friendship matters; 2) Young children have the ability to collaborate; 3) Pretend play serves as a starting point for collaboration; 4) Collaborative strategies progress as the collaboration proceeds; and 5) Computers can play a supportive role in collaboration for young children.