276 Benefits and Maintenance of Friendships
Oswald and colleagues (2004) sought to examine how this dyadic interde-
pendence functioned in friendship maintenance among 148 pairs of friends, who
reported on their own engagement of maintenance behaviors and on their percep-
tion of their friends’ use of maintenance behaviors. There was a high level of self-
other agreement, suggesting that one person’s behaviors were highly correlated with
the friend’s perceptions of their behaviors. Furthermore, there was a high level of
equity in the friendships, such that each of the friends’ reported use of the mainte-
nance behaviors did not differ. Finally, there was a high level of perceived equity, such
that participants felt that both they and their friend were engaging in similar levels of
maintenance behaviors. Interestingly, these measures of dyadic similarity on main-
tenance behaviors did not vary by friendship status. So while best friends engaged
in more of the maintenance behaviors than did close or casual friends, the dyadic
matching on maintenance behaviors did not differ. This suggests that there is reci-
procity and matching between the friends when engaging in maintenance behaviors.
For maintenance behaviors to be effective it appears that both individuals’ behav-
iors contribute to the overall dyadic level friendship satisfaction and commitment
(Oswald et al., 2004). Thus, it is not what one friend does, but what both friends do
jointly, that appears to contribute to the maintenance of a satisfying and committed
relationship. However, Oswald and colleagues (2004) did not find that perception
of the friend’s behaviors was associated with dyadic level satisfaction and commit-
ment. Given the high level of similarity and accuracy in perceptions, this might not
be surprising. That is, given the little variability between the two friends reports, it
makes sense that actual behaviors rather than perceptions were the stronger statisti-
cal predictors. This also suggests that maintenance behaviors are things that friends
do together, which results in the high level of self- other agreement in the reports.
Similar results were found by Oswald and Clark (2003) in that the maintenance
behaviors were found to contribute to dyadic level relationship satisfaction and
commitment. In contrast, problem- solving styles tended to be an individual- level
behavior and predicted individual- level satisfaction and commitment. Together, the
findings from the Oswald and colleagues (2004) and Oswald and Clark (2003) stud-
ies strongly suggest that friendship maintenance behaviors are joint, equitable, and
mutually engaged in by both friends. These behaviors appear to be inherently dyadic
and interdependent in nature. Furthermore, dyadic friendship maintenance some-
times requires people to do what is in the best interest of the friendship (dyadic- level
focus) rather than what is an individual’s personal interest (individual- level focus).
Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding
Friendship Maintenance
Wiseman (1986) notes that friendships, like all long- term relationships, have
“unwritten contracts” of how the relationship should function. Friendships have an