The communicative achievement of friendship during adolescence: Predicaments of trust and violation

This research investigated the varieties, tensions, and functions of friendship as described by 32 high school juniors in open‐ended interviews. Respondents reported considerable tension between popularity as public comportment and friendship as private communication. An overarching concern for these adolescents was the preservation or violation of trust in their friendships in the face of contrasting public and private exigencies. Trust mediated the accomplishment of friendship and allowed for their distinctions between types of friends. Two modes of violating trust, revealing a secret and backstabbing, are examined and illustrated, and implications are discussed.

Notes

The authors would like to thank Arthur P. Bochner for reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this manuscript.