Running head: WHAT FACTORS INDIVIDUALS VALUE MOST IN A FRIEND

Key Psychological Factors Influencing Individuals in Choosing Friends
Iram Shah
University Centre at Blackburn College

Abstract
Background

Aim
The current research programme examines the relationship between individuals and their friends. It aims to gain an insight on how individuals perceive friendship and what factors they value most in a friend.
Sample
A purposive sampling technique was used where participants were chosen on the basis of the relationship between the interviewer and interviewee. The researcher had some degree of understanding with the participant to build up rapport throughout the interview. 9 participants took part in the interview out of which only 7 provided their personal details. There were 5 females and 2 males who took part in the research with the age range of 32 and mean age of 27.
Method
The current research programme takes an ideographic approach to data collection and analysis. The method used in the research is a qualitative analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with a small number of participants. An inductive-qualitative design was used when collecting data and the method of analysis used when analysing the transcript, was a Thematic Approach.
Results
The key findings and themes which emerged from the current researchers was that the main factor which individuals value in friendship is trust. Throughout all the interviews trust was one theme which seemed to crop up with every participant. Other factors which linked with trust included openness, in terms of how open individuals were with friends if they trusted them. Backbiting was also linked with trust as participants stated that friends who would talk negative behind they back were ones who could not be trusted. Other factors which cropped up in relation to what individuals value in friendship included loyalty towards friends, understanding one another, non-judgemental friends and how supportive friends were.

Conclusion

Keywords: [Your keywords go here]
Key Psychological Factors Influencing Individuals in Choosing Friends
This qualitative study aimed to explore the key psychological factors which influence individuals in choosing friends. There have been previous researches which examine different aspects of friendship such as The Importance of Friends: Friendship and Adjustment Among 1st-Year University Students (Buote et al., 2007). Another research conducted by (Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan & Majeski, 2004) examined the transition from high school to university as the context for examining the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. The content of these studies have been inadequate to the narrow scope of the specific interests of researchers. This current study aimed to take a value-free approach to identify the main factors which influence individuals in choosing friends.
There have been many studies of individuals understanding of friendship expectations and these notions have documented age-related consistencies in the child to adolescence development. Therefore it is a question for future research to find out what core characteristics of friendship are and what qualities/characteristics other than age, individuals look for in a friend.
Therefore the current research aims to identify these factors or characteristics which influence individuals when choosing friends.
Method
Methodological rationale
There were a number of qualitative methods that were considered appropriate in discovering participants views on friendship. These methods consisted of Grounded Theory (GT), Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), Discourse Analysis (DA) and Thematic Analysis (TA). As the interviews conducted were semi structured to allow some direction by the participant in the discourse, many issues were raised when using the IPA method. As the method used a rigorous structure, it was considered that