Friendship and Happiness Across the Life-Span and Cultures

Friendship is considered to be an essential source of individual happiness by philosophers, psychological theories and researchers for centuries. This is the first book that explicitly focuses on the role of friendship experiences in happiness. The work presented in this volume addresses historical, theoretical and measurement issues in the study of friendship and happiness (e.g., when did the study of friendship and happiness start? Why friends are important for happiness?). Experts from different parts of the world provide in-depth authoritative reviews on the relationship between different types of friendship experiences (e.g., friendship quantity, quality) and happiness in different age groups and cultures. In order to achieve a balanced evaluation of this area as a whole, the book concludes with a critical appraisal of what is known about the role of friendship in happiness and provides important directions for future research. 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.