34 Roles Of Friendship

John Spacey, updated on January 12, 2024

Friendship is a relationship of mutual respect and companionship. This includes everything from casual friends who are friendly to each other when they happen to meet to lifelong friends who sustain supportive and loyal relationships for many decades. Friendship is an important type of social relationship because it is based on the initiative, needs and social skills of the individual. In other words, where relationships such as family and community are often related to your situation, you choose your friends. The following are common roles of friendship.

Challenging each other	Companionship
Conflict resolution practice	Decision support
Developing social skills	Economic connections
Emotional support	Healthy competitiveness
Identity formation	Mental activity
Moral influence	Motivation and encouragement
Non-judgmental communication	Personal growth
Personal resilience	Physical activity such as sports
Problem solving support	Quality of life
Reciprocity	Sense of belonging
Sense of connectedness	Sense that others like you
Sense that others understand you	Shared experiences
Shared identity	Shared interests
Social influence	Social capital
Social connections	Social status
Social support	Socialization
Source of information	Validation

It is common for individuals to have different types of friends that each play different roles. For example, a friend who likes to travel who is a reliable travel partner but doesn't offer much emotional support.

Summary

Friends can play a role in developing your identity, social skills, confidence and sense of connectedness to others. They can help solve problems, make decisions and form values. Friends can also play a potent social and economic role by connecting you to opportunities and their social connections.