280 Benefits and Maintenance of Friendships
on their goals and orientation to relationships as a way to develop insight into their
friendship behaviors.
Conclusion
Brehm, Miller, Perlman, and Campbell (2002) write that relationship mainte-
nance is “less exciting than newfound love and less dramatic than separation, but
effectively keeping alive the successful relationships you have already formed can
contribute substantially to achieving a rich, rewarding set of close relationships”
(p. 430). While the body of research on friendship maintenance is growing, there
is still a need for additional work. Much of the research is correlational and cross-
sectional. Additional research that is longitudinal would further our understanding
of how friendship maintenance behaviors are used over time and especially dur-
ing times of friendship transition and turmoil. Further dyadic work where both
individuals in the relationship are assessed will provide a deeper understanding of
the interdependent nature of friendships. Furthermore, as technology changes and
different methods of maintaining friendships are developed, research should also
investigate the effectiveness and limits of these different media. Finally, understand-
ing how people work to maintain other social relationships such as kin relation-
ships, business/ professional relationships, dual relationships such as work- friends,
and mentoring relationships would provide a more complete picture of mainte-
nance behaviors. Fully understanding the process through which people maintain
their friendships will ultimately help researchers and clinicians better understand
how to assist people with maintaining relationships that provide important sources
of support and contribute to life satisfaction and well- being.
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