What Do We Mean by 'Friend'? An Inductive Study.

Although the concept friend' is critical to both theoretical and empirical studies of social relations, it is a very ambiguous term. Most researchers seem to take its meaning for granted. This paper reports an inductive study designed to find out what aspects of real relations are correlated with applications of the label friend'. In a cross-sectional survey of 1050 adults living in northern California in 19 77, we obtained the names and descriptions of 19417 associates. Of these, 59% were labelled friends. Several regression analyses suggest that this label is likely to be applied: to an overwhelming majority of non-relatives in a largely unsystematic way; to associates lacking other, specialized role-relations; to people of the same age; to people known a long time; and to people with whom respondents had primarily sociable, rather than intimate or material, involvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]