Friendship Expectations of Early Adolescents in Cuba and Canada

Abstract

Concepts of friendshipmay reflect the collectivism or individualismof societies or differences in their social structures. We asked Canadian ( N = 300) and Cuban ( N = 294) adolescents to write essays about the features that distinguish their best friends. Acceptance and loyalty were frequent features in the essays from both countries. Despite many cross-national similarities, there were significant differences in the frequency of responses referring to the intimacy potential of the friendship. These responses, which are of particular theoretical importance, were more common in the Cuban data. The Cuban participants also emphasized reciprocal help and admiration of their best friends’characters more frequently than did the Canadian participants. Shared pastimes and a shared history of prior social interaction were more frequent in the Canadian essays. These results provide some confirmation that friendship reasoning reflects the collectivism or individualism of the surrounding society.