Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v23i3.4024
Who is Your Best Friend? - The Dimensions of Quality in a Friendship Relationship
Ante Kolak
orcid.org/0000-0002-8336-0858
; Department of pedagogy Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Markić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0490-6160
; Department of pedagogy Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Zoran Horvat
orcid.org/0000-0001-5531-1541
; Department of pedagogy Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The authors of this study define a relationship with a best friend as a form of
interpersonal relationship between two people who are close, based on mutual
attraction, respect and recognition, within which there is support and protection,
intimacy, satisfaction, enjoyment in one another’s company, and successful resolution
of problems. The purpose of this study was to establish the dimensions of a friendship
relationship and test the structure of a questionnaire examining the quality of a
friendship relationship in the category of “best friend”. The research was conducted via
a survey method on a sample of 316 students of 5th, 6th and 7th grades of elementary
school. The factor structure of the questionnaire was studied by a combination of
exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis of the questiononaire’s
structure resulted in a 4-factor model with 17 items that meet the recent criteria in
validation of research instruments. The extracted factors indicate the importance of
intimacy, use of leisure time, emphasizing the person’s value and protection. According
to all important indicators, the final model was shown to be methodologically reliable
as a simple instrument with a potential of wide practical application in research on
quality dimensions of a relationship between best friends.
Keywords
factor analysis; intimacy; leisure time; value; protection
Hrčak ID:
266844
URI
Publication date:
17.11.2021.
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