Posted September 18, Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. Are you the kind of person who has just a few very close friends? Or do you find new friends everywhere you go? Some of us use the word friend casually, while others are very particular in labeling someone else a friend. While there are lots of ways of "doing" friendship , a friend is generally someone who is a source of reliable emotional support and companionship.
And by extension, how many friends do you need? You absolutely do need some. We are evolutionarily geared toward social connection, and our brains and bodies react badly to its lack. Feeling socially isolated has been found to be as dangerous for your health as smoking or obesity.
And the difference between having even one or two good friends versus none is where the most significant health benefits are found. Importantly though, there is a wide range in the types of friendship networks that people build over their lives.
Why does this matter? But also, the better researchers understand the complexities of real-life social interaction, the more effectively they can use that knowledge to help people. Future studies could use the friendship categories that have been identified to follow individuals over time and work out the likelihood that certain styles are associated with different levels of loneliness, well-being, and cognitive functioning.
A team of German psychologists, led by Martina Miche now Martina Gabrian at the University of Heidelberg, worked with nearly 2, adults ranging in age from 40 to They found that friendship styles fell into four categories an expanded version of work done a decade before by American sociologist Sarah Matthews :.
