Self-Concept Support and Friendship Duration

Abstract

Summary Members of friendship dyads at levels of short acquaintance or long acquaintance made intelligence attributions for self and friend, and predicted their rating by the friend. Comparisons between these perceptions and "actual" intelligence suggest that self-concept support is a more reliable feature of friendship than is perceived similarity, or "actual" similarity, or even similarity between friends' self-concepts. The role of perceived similarity appears to diminish as friendship persists, whereas the role of perceived self-concept support takes on added psychological significance for enduring friendships.