7Friendship by Petrona Viera (1895-1960)

Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people.^[1] It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association, and has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. Various academic theories of friendship have been proposed, including social exchange theory, equity theory, relational dialectics, and attachment styles.

Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many types of such bonds. Such characteristics include affection; kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other's company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one's feelings to others, and make mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend. Friendship is an essential aspect of relationship building skills.

Friendship means familiar and liking of each other's mind.

People who are friends talk to each other and spend time together. They trust one another and also help each other when they are in trouble or are hurt. Friends are people that can be looked up to and trusted. Usually friends have similar interests. A friend is one who admires a person's skill and helps or encourages them to make the right choices and do not get into any trouble at all.

The strength of the bond of friendship between two people can vary. If the bond is very strong, they are called best friends. This can usually be achieved by possessing the elements of friendship, by being kind, generous, loyal, honest and by having fun. With these qualities you can truly enjoy the bliss of friendship.

There are expectations, demands and complaints in friendship too. If friends don't match with your expectations, it does not mean you will break the friendship. It is all about understanding, realizing and helping whenever possible.

Friendship is both good and necessary. Man cannot live all alone. He is a social being. He needs someone to share his joys and sorrows. Generally, it is only people of similar age, character and background, mentality, etc., who can understand him and his problems. Friends are needed for support and for sharing.