The development of personal friendship networks

Few researchers study how and why people develop their personal friendship networks when facing major life events. This exploratory research focused on how and why students develop their personal friendship networks during the transition to university. 56 first year university students (including 30 Canadians and 26 Chinese international undergraduate students of Carleton University) each participated in three, related longitudinal studies during the first six months after arriving at university. All completed questionnaires within two weeks after arriving at Carleton (Session A); they completed other questionnaires and were interviewed at the end of the sixth week after the Fall term 2004 began (Session B), and at the end of the sixth month after the Fall term 2004 began (Session C). Study 1, based on responses from some of the questionnaires, explored how the size and the composition of people's personal friendship networks change during the transition to university. Study 2, based on responses of interviews, examined why people added and dropped their friendships during the transition to university. Study 3 investigated cultural differences in friendship attitudes and interactions with friends.; Results for both Canadian students and Chinese international students show that, although the sizes of students' personal friendship networks increased during the transition to university; the proportion of student's close friends in their personal friendship networks remained relatively stable at about 20%, suggesting a natural limit on the proportion of close friends students have. Both situational and psychological factors influence the development of students' personal friendship networks. Results also show that Canadian students and Chinese international students developed their personal friendship networks differently: Canadian students expanded their friendship networks faster than did Chinese international students. Surprisingly, only a few students reported dropping old friends, suggesting that both cultures develop two kinds of friendships within a personal friendship network: active friendships and inactive friendships. Based on the findings of this research, a model of the development of personal friendship networks was proposed for future research.