Research Report: Friendship Patterns of Women

Abstract

Because sociometry seeks to identify and explore the group structures and the valences of linkages between people, sociometrists may be interested in the research done by Kathleen Sullivan Ricker on the nature of women's friendships. Most psychologists and other mental health workers agree that friendships play a vital role in one's healthy adjustment to life. Friendships among women have been found to be of particular importance for the nonjudgmental conversation, the emotional support, and the enhancement of personal growth afforded the partners in these relationships. What was not known was whether what women seek and what they receive in these relationships changes during their life cycle. Very few studies have focused on women's same-sex friendships. Tesch and Martin (1983) found age-related differences in what their subjects sought from friendships, but they did not study women specifically, nor did they study women over 30 years of age. The purpose of the Ricker ( 1987) study was to investigate the criteria, functions and maintenance concerns of women in two periods of the age continuum, younger (20-39) and older (50-69).