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.

Autorentext

Melikah 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, Melikah 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.

Inhalt

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; Melikah 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, Melikah Demir, Aysun Doan, 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; Melikah 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; Melikah Demir, Mustapha Achoui and Jaromir Simonek.