TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Friendships End
T2 - An Evolutionary Examination
AU - Apostolou, Menelaos
AU - Keramari, Despoina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Psychological Association
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - People make friendships, some of which last a lifetime, whereas others are shortlived. Within the context of an evolutionary theoretical framework, this study aims to identify the reasons that lead people to terminate a friendship. More specifically, in Study 1, by using a combination of qualitative research methods in a sample of 133 Greek-speaking participants, we identified 55 such reasons. In Study 2, by using exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 557 Greek-speaking participants, we classified these reasons in four broader factors for terminating a friendship. As indicated by the means, the most important factor was selfishness, followed by romantic involvement, the lack of frequent interaction, and the perceptions of friends and family. Moreover, significant sex and age effects were found for most factors.
AB - People make friendships, some of which last a lifetime, whereas others are shortlived. Within the context of an evolutionary theoretical framework, this study aims to identify the reasons that lead people to terminate a friendship. More specifically, in Study 1, by using a combination of qualitative research methods in a sample of 133 Greek-speaking participants, we identified 55 such reasons. In Study 2, by using exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 557 Greek-speaking participants, we classified these reasons in four broader factors for terminating a friendship. As indicated by the means, the most important factor was selfishness, followed by romantic involvement, the lack of frequent interaction, and the perceptions of friends and family. Moreover, significant sex and age effects were found for most factors.
KW - Evolution of friendship
KW - Friendship
KW - Reciprocal altruism
KW - Termination of friendship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127290534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/ebs0000269
DO - 10.1037/ebs0000269
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127290534
SN - 2330-2925
JO - Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
JF - Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
ER -