I Am So Happy 'Cause My Friend Is Happy for Me: Capitalization, Friendship, and Happiness Among US and Turkish College Students

WOS: 000322304500010PubMed ID: 23484350Friends usually share positive events in their lives with each other. Referred to as capitalization, this process promotes individual happiness when the discloser perceives that the responses display genuine support. Yet, the specific mechanisms explaining why capitalization is associated with happiness are not known. The present study addresses this empirical issue by testing a mediational model positing that friendship quality would mediate the relationship between capitalization and happiness among U.S. and Turkish college students. Although the psychosocial well-being of the U.S. participants was significantly higher than Turkish participants, the proposed model was supported in both groups. This suggests that part of the reason capitalization is associated with happiness is because of friendship experiences. The authors also provide suggestions for future research

I Am so Happy 'Cause My Best Friend Makes Me Feel Unique: Friendship, Personal Sense of Uniqueness and Happiness

WOS: 000323740500007Decades of empirical research leave no doubt that friendship experiences are consistent correlates of happiness. Yet, little is known about how friendships are related to happiness. The present study examined personal sense of uniqueness as a mediator of the relationship between same-sex best friendship quality and happiness in three samples each employing a different measure of happiness (n = 2,429). Results provided support to the mediational model in every sample and showed that it was gender invariant. The findings suggest that one reason why the quality of friendships is related to happiness is because friendship experiences promote individuals' feelings of uniqueness. The implications of the findings for friendship and happiness research are discussed and directions for future research are outlined

Cross-sex Friendship and Happiness

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

Cross-sex Friendship and Happiness

Established research has shown that friendship is an important correlate of happiness. Yet, these studies did not directly examine the relationship between cross-sex friendship and happiness. Thus, the studies reported in this chapter aimed to investigate the association of cross-sex friendship with happiness. The first study revealed that cross-sex friendship quality and happiness are positively correlated, regardless of how happiness was assessed (e.g., affective, global). The second study showed that cross-sex friendship-happiness association is similar among emerging adults in Turkey and the U.S. The third study provided additional support for a positive relationship between cross-sex friendship quality and happiness, as it revealed that cross-sex friendship quality predicted unique variance in happiness above and beyond the role of personality for both U.S. and Turkish samples. Collectively, the studies have shown that cross-sex friendship quality is a reliable correlate of happiness. Findings were evaluated in light of theory and directions for future research were provided. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015