Friendship and Happiness - Across the Life-Span and Cultures

This is the first book that explicitly focuses on the relationships between various types of friendship experiences and happiness. It addresses historical, theoretical, and measurement issues in the study of friendship and happiness (e.g., why friends are important for happiness).

In order to achieve a balanced evaluation of this area as a whole, many chapters in the book conclude with a critical appraisal of what is known about the role of friendship in happiness, and provide important directions for future research. Experts from different parts of the world provide in-depth, authoritative reviews on the association between different types of friendship experiences (e.g., friendship quantity, quality) and happiness in different age groups and cultures.

An ideal resource for researchers and students of positive psychology, this rich, clear, and up-to-date book serves as an important reference for academicians in related fields of psychology such as cross-cultural, developmental and social.

List of contents

Part I. Perspectives on Friendship and Happiness.- Chapter 1. Friendship and Happiness from a Philosophical Perpective; Sandra Lynch.- Chapter 2. Friendship and Happiness from a Sociological Perspective; Silvana Greco, Mary Holmes and Jordan McKenzie.- Chapter 3. Friends and Happiness: An Evolutionary Perspective on Friendship; David Lewis, Laith Al-Shaway, Eric M. Russell and David M. Buss.- Chapter 4. Friendship and Happiness: A Bidirectional Dynamic Process; Lina María Saldarriaga, William Bukowski and Carolina Greco.- Part II. Friendship and Happiness across the Lifespan: Reviews of the Literature.- Chapter 5. Children's Friendship and Positive Well-Being; Mark Holder and Ben Coleman.- Chapter 6. Friendship and Happiness in Adolescence; Catherine L. Bagwell, Karen P. Kochel and Michelle E. Schmidt.- Chapter 7. Friendship and Happiness among Young Adults; Meliksah Demir, Haley Orthel, Metin Özdemir and Sevgi Özdemir.- Chapter 8. Friendship and Happiness among Middle-Aged Adults;Katherine L. Fiori and Christy A. Denckla.- Chapter 9. Friendship and Happiness in the Third Age; Rebecca Adams and Emily M. Taylor.- Chapter 10. Cross-Sex Friendship and Happiness; Amanda Procsal, Meliksah Demir, Aysun Dogan, Ayça Özen and Nebi Sümer.- Chapter 11. Social Media, Friendship and Happiness in the Millennial Generation; Adriana M. Manago and Lanen Vaughn.- Part III. Friendship and Happiness across Cultures.- Chapter 12. Friendship and Happiness in Navajos (Bik'éí Diné Baa' Hózhó); Angela A.A. Willeto.- Chapter 13. Friendship and Happiness in Latin America: A Review; Agnaldo Garcia, Fábio Nogueira Pereira and Maria Daniela Corrêa de Macedo.- Chapter 14. Family, Friends and Subjective Well-Being: A Comparison between the West and Asia; Tianyuan Li and Sheung-Tak Cheng.- Chapter 15. Attachment Avoidance Harms Friendship Quality and Life Satisfaction among Turkish Children; Nebi Sümer.- Chapter 16. How Are Positve and Negative Peer Relations Related to Positive and Negative Affect in Adolescents over Time? (New Zealand); Paul E. Rose.- Chapter 17. Friendship, Needs Satisfaction and Happiness among College Students in France and Lebanon; Meliksah Demir, Frédérique Cuisiner and Brigitte Khoury.- Chapter 18. I Am So Happy 'Cause My Best Friend Is There for Me When Things Are Go Right: Friendship and Happiness among Emerging Adults in Algeria and Slovakia; Meliksah Demir, Mustapha Achoui and Jaromir Simonek.

About the author

Melik¿ah Demir received his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan, USA) in 2007. He is currently an associate professor at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Arizona, USA) since then. Since his graduate school years, Demir has been conducting research on friendship and happiness in different age groups (e.g., Demir & Urberg, 2004; Demir & Weitekamp, 2007; Demir, 2010). His current research focuses on delineating the processes and mechanisms responsible for the friendship-happiness link (e.g., Demir & Ozdemir, 2010). Specifically, Melik¿ah Demir is testing different theoretical models that could explain why friendship is related to happiness. He also conducts cross-cultural studies to examine whether the role of friendship in happiness is similar in different cultures.

Summary

This is the first book that explicitly focuses on the relationships between various types of friendship experiences and happiness. It addresses historical, theoretical, and measurement issues in the study of friendship and happiness (e.g., why friends are important for happiness).

In order to achieve a balanced evaluation of this area as a whole, many chapters in the book conclude with a critical appraisal of what is known about the role of friendship in happiness, and provide important directions for future research. Experts from different parts of the world provide in-depth, authoritative reviews on the association between different types of friendship experiences (e.g., friendship quantity, quality) and happiness in different age groups and cultures.
An ideal resource for researchers and students of positive psychology, this rich, clear, and up-to-date book serves as an important reference for academicians in related fields of psychology such as cross-cultural, developmental and social.

Additional text

“Demir is to be touted for obtaining the
perspectives and research from 43 authors … heralding from 16 different
countries. … The book … would enrich undergraduate and graduate students of
psychology, gerontology, philosophy, cultural anthropology, gender studies, and
sociology. I would recommend it as a primer for graduate students about to
embark on their original research as both a blueprint of what to do—and not—when operationalizing—or indeed, choosing—mercurial, multifaceted concepts.” (Carol
A. Gosselink, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 60 (49), December, 2015)

Report

"Demir is to be touted for obtaining the perspectives and research from 43 authors ... heralding from 16 different countries. ... The book ... would enrich undergraduate and graduate students of psychology, gerontology, philosophy, cultural anthropology, gender studies, and sociology. I would recommend it as a primer for graduate students about to embark on their original research as both a blueprint of what to do-and not-when operationalizing-or indeed, choosing-mercurial, multifaceted concepts." (Carol A. Gosselink, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 60 (49), December, 2015)

Product details

• Assisted by: Melik Ah Demir (Editor), Meliksa Demir (Editor), Meliksah Demir (Editor), Melikşah Demir (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.10.2016
• EAN: 9789401778534
• ISBN: 978-94-0-177853-4
• No. of pages: 319
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 235 mm x 17 mm
• Weight: 510 g
• Illustrations: XII, 319 p. 1 illus.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology; Non-fiction book > Psychology, esoterics, spirituality, anthroposophy > Psychology: general, reference works; B, positive psychology, Social & ethical issues, Quality of Life, Behavioral Science and Psychology, Quality of Life Research