What is the importance of having friends?

The companies that surround us can greatly determine who we are. Good friends are always there, whether it's motivating us, encouraging us to be the best version of ourselves, or supporting us unconditionally.

Friendship is an essential relational aspect, surely one of the main foundations of societies, along with the family and the couple. Friends can be such a great source of confidence, well-being and security that it determines our personality.

Next we will delve into the topic of the importance of having friends, its benefits and how it develops throughout life.

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The importance of having friends: their different advantages

From a very young age to when we are older, friends are a fundamental part of our lives. Placing trust in other people constitutes the social fabric, since if we could not do it, society, as we know it today, could not be possible.

Regardless of its importance at a social level, the truth is that forming bonds of friendship with other people is very beneficial for our mental health

. For this reason the importance of having friends is so great.

We understand by friendship the close bond that is formed between two or more people. This kind of relationships must have trust, affection, loyalty, sympathy and respect as essential aspects, displayed by link members to each other.

Friendship is one of the most significant affective relationships that can be had, along with family and partner relationships, which provides many benefits on a psychological level.

benefits of friendship

Human beings are social animals. When we are born we need the care and affective contact of other people to be able to develop well.

As we grow up and gain a little more independence to interact freely, we joining different groups, choosing the people with whom we want to spend free time.

Emotional well-being, self-esteem and self-concept

Having friends makes us feel integrated into these groups, as well as giving us great emotional value. By being part of our closest social environment we have as benefits an increase in self-esteem and motivation.

True friends are those people to whom we can tell intimate and private information, trusting that they will not reveal it to third parties and that they will listen to us unconditionally. By sharing this information with them we alleviate some stress and emotional discomfort, giving us some calm and peace of mind.

The simple fact of being listened to, understood and loved usually acts as a good sedative on an emotional level.. It is clear that having a friend can give us a lot of emotional well-being, especially when the origin of the discomfort is in other intimate and supposedly "safe" relationships, such as the family or the couple.

Conversely, seeing that there are people who confide in us their insecurities, concerns, discomforts, and negative emotions makes us feel valued, understanding that we can become a source of support for others. In this way, our self-concept improves, as long as it is a functional friendship relationship., without toxicities, betrayals or "bad vibes".

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overcome difficult situations

Placing trust in a friend has a very important therapeutic component, since it helps us overcome moments of great difficulty such as a duel, a breakup, unemployment or any other complicated situation.

Be a better version of ourselves

Another of the benefits of having friends is that they can give us the push to leave our vices behind or motivate us to start a great project. On many occasions it is friends who motivate by leaving unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking or having a sedentary life.

Good friends worry about the health of their friends. Thanks to this they can positively influence our decision making, making us more responsible and healthy or becoming more aware of our problems if there are any. They make us a better version of ourselves.

It should also be said that friendship can be a double-edged sword, since they can make us make more decisions risky or, due to social pressure, we acquire bad habits, something especially visible in adolescence and the consumption of drugs.

unconditional acceptance

The feeling of unconditional acceptance generates well-being. Being able to be yourself and see that others accept us generates a great sense of security and appreciation. A true friend accepts us regardless of our personality or personal characteristics., making us not have to pretend to be who we are not.

If we pretend to be who we are not, we can suffer a very intense identity and self-esteem crisis, which will imply serious psychological damage.

friendship throughout life

Friendships are important at all stages of life, not just in childhood and adolescence. As adults, both when you are young and when you are no longer, friendships can be a fundamental emotional support. Next we are going to reflect on the importance of friendship throughout life.

Childhood

From a very young age, children form their first friendships.. Already in kindergarten and, above all, in school, you can see how children relate to others and, on many occasions, create bonds that will last a lifetime. They will also establish bonds with other children who are in the park, children of friends of their parents or neighbors.

It is very important that children choose their friends and learn to connect with other people more or less freely. It often happens that parents select their children's friends, either because they believe they can be a good influence or because they are the children of trusted friends and acquaintances. It is not bad to make children meet new children, but it is very important not to separate them from those friends they have already made.

Likewise, it is very important to detect situations in which the child may be having a bad time due to certain relationships, either due to bullying or because they are bad influences, that cause him to deviate from his studies and have difficulties.

Adolescence

Adolescence is a critical period, and all parents know it because before they were adults they had to go through it. Hormonal changes are experienced, conflicts with the main attachment figures, the abstract thought (Piaget's formal operational thought) and the first relationships emerge loving.

There is a real identity crisis that if mishandled will have consequences in adulthood. Relationships with friends become very important and very intense friendships are formed, which they can influence the still moldable personality of the individual and can mean success or the failure.

In this period a friend can make us choose a course wisely, start high school studies or study for the exam next week. But it can also influence us to try marijuana, drink alcohol, or skip school.

Adulthood and old age

When you get to young adulthood you still have a bit of an identity crisis, but not as intense anymore.

Likewise, friends are still very important, because It is in these years that we try to gain more independence, looking for a flat, starting higher studies, starting to work... These are times of economic and vital insecurity that, spending them with friends means that the difficulty is not seen as so serious.

As friendships grow, they are reduced to a select group of people with whom we trust a lot. Likewise, new friendships can be made throughout life, some even in stages as advanced as old age. You are never too old to meet someone with whom you share a lot and with whom you can establish a very beautiful friendship..

Conclusion

The importance of having friends is very significant, since it not only influences how we relate to others, integrating with society, but also It provides us with emotional well-being, increases self-esteem and self-concept, and can allow us to alleviate negative emotions that we could not use in other non-professional ways.

Friendships are especially important in childhood and adolescence, although in adulthood they can play a very important role in our personal success.

Bibliographic references:

• Hojjat, M., & Moyer, A. (Eds.). (2017). The psychology of friendship. Oxford University Press.
• Moya, L. (2013) Empathy, understanding it to understand others. A Coruña: Current Platform.