Friendship in Three Metropolitan Areas: Cross-Cultural Evidence of Its Voluntariness

Abstract

Friendship is viewed as a relationship which is based on voluntariness. It is predicted that people who are highly urban, high SES, young, and unmarried will be involved with friends because they are relatively free from obligations and constraints on their behavior. Data from Los Angeles, U.S.A.; London, England; and Sydney, Australia indicate that age is the best predictor of voluntary friendship.Level of urbanism and SES are not at all related to friendship. Involvement with friends has a positive affect on psychological well-being. , ' .