Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Laursen, Brett
Abstract
Previous studies of desired friendship have assessed desired friends with unilateral nominations (when one child chooses another child as a friend, but that friend nomination is not reciprocated). This calls into question the validity of findings suggesting that children want to be friends with others who differ from themselves, but befriend similar others by default (Sijtsema, Lindenberg, & Veenstra, 2010). The current study concerns desired friendships among 195 girls and 147 boys in Grades 4 through 6. Two hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis was that children will not choose the same unilateral and desired friends. The second hypothesis was that children will be more similar to their reciprocal friends than to their unilateral and desired friends. Questionnaires measured desired friendship, friendship, and child characteristics. Both hypotheses were supported. However, there were group-level differences. The importance of using desired friend nominations to measure desired friends is discussed.
Extent
69 p.
Recommended Citation
Bortman, Gilly, "The friends they have and the friends they want: desired friendship across the transition into adolescence" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 1126.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/1126
Identifier
FA00004180
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.