Page 72 - CROSS CULTURE

affection. Furman and Robbins (1985) have argued that

preadolescents and adolescents experience stronger positive

feelings in their friendships than in other peer relationships and

characterize this difference in intensity as the difference between
loving and liking. Finally, friends play a key role in providing

intimacy, as the level of disclosure tends to be more intense with

close friends than with other peers.

B. Friendship Effects on Personality Development

The effects of personality on friendship development are not

unidirectional, as close relationships such as friendships require

a certain amount of mutual adaptation to be maintained.

Accordingly, friendship experiences also retroact on personality

and promote the dynamic code development of individuals and
their relationships. Earlier research focused on socializing effects

of peer groups in childhood and adolescence, whereas recent

publications examine the relevance of friendships for personality

trait changes beyond adolescence and during the stages of

adulthood. Accordingly, research on the impact of different forms
of living arrangements revealed that young adults who lived with

roommates showed steeper increases in openness and

agreeableness than those who stayed with their parents. Effects

of relationship fluctuation, that is, the persistence of established

relationships and the initiation of new contacts, were
substantiated in a study on international student exchange.

International relationship gains of exchange students explained

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