Friendship and Human Connection

Connection with others provides people with a sense of belonging. Friendships help people feel like they are valuable to the world around them, offer opportunities to vent, and allow people to talk about their interests, worries, and opinions. The articles linked in this section focus on:

• survey details about friendships in America by gender, race, and age (Pew)

• survey comparisons of self-reported friendships in 1990 vs. 2021 (Cox)

• discussion of the values of frienships and challenges in making friends as an adult (Abrams)

• the science of friendship with comparisons to romantic love and acquaintanceship (Puff)

• Sources:

  • Pew Research, "What Does Friendship Look Like in America?" 12 Oct. 2023

  • Daniel A. Cox, "Change, Challenges, and Loss" 8 June 2021

  • Robert E. Puff, "The Importance of Friendship" 26 July 2021

  • Zara Abrams, "The Science of Why Friendships Keep Us Healthy" 1 June 2023