Sigmund Freud changed the conception of human mental life by
showing that many seemingly illogical, unconscious psychological
processes are powerful influences shaping human beings across the
lifespan. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection Limited/Corbis)
mented after 1900 by the analysis of dreams. Symp-
toms could be relieved when conflicts were
emotionally recontextualized, in part through the re-
lationship to the analyst where past issues came alive
again in the present (a technique called transference).
As a Jewish scholar in bourgeois Vienna, Freud
was influenced by and an observer of a civilized sexual
morality that he felt required of us a surplus repres-
sion (where urges and associated longings are pushed
from awareness and denied expression), which dam-
aged health and hindered contributions to culture.
Financial problems had delayed his marriage to Mar-
tha Bernays (they were engaged in 1882 and married
in 1886), and the realities of marriage were not equal
to his expectations. Freud believed that World War I
confirmed his theories about aggression and the re-
gression to more primitive behavior that collectivities
made possible. Freud suffered much loss in his life
and wrote poignantly about the links between mourn-
ing and depression. In 1923 he discovered a cancer-
ous growth on his palate, but, cherishing his cigars,
sought neither specialists nor oral surgeons, going in-
stead to general practitioners. His daughter Anna,
who was to be his professional successor, tended the
father who had analyzed her until his death in 1939.See also: THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENTBibliography
Appignanesi, Lisa, and John Forrester. Freud’s Women. London: Vi-
rago Press, 1993.
Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Times. London: J. M. Dent and
Sons, 1998.
Wollheim, Richard. Freud. London: Fontana, 1971.
Publications by Freud
The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund
Freud, translated by James Strachey, in collaboration with
Anna Freud, assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson. Lon-
don: Hogarth, 1953.
Doris McIlwainFRIENDSHIP
Friends are people who feel affection for one another
and enjoy spending time together. Reciprocity char-
acterizes the nature of most friendships. Friends typi-
cally have mutual regard for one another, exhibit
give-and-take in their behaviors, and benefit in com-
parable ways from their social interaction. The forma-
tion, nature, and effects of friendship all change as
children develop. Despite these changes, having
friends is important to children’s overall develop-
ment, and friendship has an impact on children’s so-
cial, emotional, and cognitive growth.Friend Selection
Who is friends with whom? For young children,
proximity is a key factor in friend selection. Pre-
schoolers tend to become friends with peers who are
nearby physically as neighbors or playgroup mem-
bers. Similarity in age is a major factor in friendship
selection, and children tend to make friends with age-
mates, particularly in Western societies, where schools
are segregated by age. Another powerful factor in
friend selection is gender: girls tend to be friends with
girls, and boys tend to be friends with boys. The pref-
erence for same-sex friends emerges in preschool and
continues through childhood. To a lesser degree,
children tend to be friends with peers of the same
race.
Beyond these basic factors, a key determinant of
friendship is similarity of interests and behaviors.
During the preschool and elementary years, children156 FRIENDSHIP