The Purpose of Friendship Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Purpose of Friendship - Research Paper Example The question of why an individual will be attracted to another as a friend when he already has a family he belongs to is a basic curiosity that we usually take for granted. Rubin, Fredstrom, and Bowker (2008) came up with a basic operationally defining features of friendship as: I have been fortunate to have had established several friendships in my life and each one has its own kind of bond. There are friends who I have met in certain social circles who naturally gravitated towards me and vice versa. There are those who naturally fall into fast friendships with me because we share a common interest. All these wonderful friends pass the defining features of friendships as described above. The famous writer, C.S. Lewis (1960) theorized that friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions realize that they share some common insights or interests. Initially, each thought they were the only ones who did, but now a common bond surrounds them, tightening their hold on each other. Emerson qualifies the love that binds friends in relation to Lewis’ theory that when one asks, â€Å"Do you love me?† it means â€Å"Do you see the same truth?† or at least, â€Å"Do you care about the same truth?† (Doyle & Smith, 2002). Pahl (2005) agrees, adding that friendship is becoming an increasingly essential ‘social glue’ since it holds together various kinds of social bonds. My varied interests have led me to various sets of friends†¦some are from my childhood, several from school and others from various groups I have been involved with. With each friend, I can recall a certain common thing I share, be it an int erest for a particular hobby, a liking for a certain celebrity, an aversion for another person or even a sense of humor that clicks with each other.