Friendship and Flourishing : An Integrative Theory.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fowers, Blaine J.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (0 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2026.

Summary:

Human friendship has been millions of years in the making, and evolutionary science richly reveals that deep history. Yet close friendship is a puzzle to evolutionary scientists because they misconstrue close relationships in strictly means-ends terms. Although social science offers sophisticated methods, it is limited by impoverished theory imbued with the unacknowledged assumptions of individualism and instrumentalism. In this book, Blaine Fowers argues that such egocentric and instrumental portrayals are not only erroneous--they also undermine good relationships.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Historical and Cultural Variations on Friendship

The Communication-Satisfaction Model of Close Relationships

Psychological Science on Friendship

Turning to Aristotle

The Evolution of Close Relationships Among Humans

Friendship and Attachment

Identity and Role in Friendships

The "Puzzle of Friendship"

A Science of Friendship

Summary

List of Hypotheses

Part I Putting Friendship in Context

1 Historical and Cultural Variations on Friendship

Friendship across Time in the West

Western History of Friendship

Social Media and Friendship

Cultural Variants of Friendship

Conclusions

2 The Communication-Satisfaction Model of Relationships and Its Discontents

The CSM and Friendship

The CSM of Friendship

Individualism

Elements of Individualism

Utilitarian and Expressive Individualism

Individualism and the CSM

Is Individualism Sustainable?

Instrumentalism

Features of Instrumentalism

Instrumentalism and the CSM

Is Relational Instrumentalism Sustainable?

Conclusion

3 The State of the Psychological Science of Friendship

Psychological Research on Friendship

Research Designs in Friendship Studies

Measurement in Friendship Research Studies

Populations in Friendship Research Studies

Direct Results in Studies of Friendship Quality

What Can Psychological Research Tell Us about Friendship?

Social Network Studies

Bivariate Results in Friendship Quality Studies

Moderators and Mediators of Relationship Quality

Friendship Research Transcending the CSM

Ecosystem versus Egosystem

Communal Orientation

Collective Identity

Part II Resources for an Integrated Theory of Friendship.

4 Aristotle's Theory of Friendship

Three Key Differentia between Aristotle's and Contemporary Psychological Understandings of Friendship

Aristotle's Theory of Friendship

Philia

Friendship Types

Instrumental and Constitutive Activity in Friendship

Individual and Shared Activities in Friendships

Moralized and Aestheticized Friendship

More Critical Questions about Aristotle's Concept of Friendship

Philia (Friendship) and Phronesis (Practical Wisdom)

Empirical Research on Aristotle's Theory of Friendship

Contemporary Research on Aristotle's Theory of Friendship

Future Research on Aristotle's Concept of Friendship

The Irreplaceability of Character Friendships

5 The Evolution of Friendship

Did Friendship Evolve?

Hunter-Gatherer Evidence

Fitness Benefits

Heuristically Cued

Formal Instruction Unnecessary

Complexity

Other Explanations of Friendship

Phylogenetic Evidence

The Challenge of Friendship

Definitions of Friendship

Potential Explanations of the Evolution of Friendship

Kin Selection

Direct Reciprocity

Indirect Reciprocity

Costly Signaling

By-product Mutualisms

The Alliance Hypothesis

Irreplaceability

Friend Courtship

Instrumental/Constitutive and Individual/Shared Perspectives on Friendship

Constitutive Action

6 Attachment and the Biology of Friendship

Infant Attachment

The Biology of Attachment

Attachment as a Lifelong Process

Interaction Modes Learned through Attachment Relationships

Parallels between Infant and Adult Attachment

Longevity of Attachment Relationships

The Specificity of Attachments

7 Identification and Roles as Constitutive Aspects of Friendship

The Friend Identity and Its Entwinement with the Friend Role.

Friendship as a Relationship to a Specific Person

Identity through Internalizing the Friendship Role

Collective Identity in Friendship

Ultrasociality and Identity

Human Evolution, Identity, and Social Roles

Some Pathways to the Evolution of Identity

Some Pathways to the Evolution of Social Roles

Part III An Integrated Theory of Friendship

8 Resolving the Puzzle of Friendship

Aristotle's Theory Revisited

Reconceptualizing the Elements of Friendships

Constitutivity within the History and Culture in Friendships

The Communication-Satisfaction Model of Friendship

Psychological Science as a Constitutive Practice

Constitutive Attachment

The Constitutivity of Identity and Roles

Close Friendship as a Constitutive, Shared Relationship

Inherent Value of Friends and Friendships

Friendship as a Shared Good

Irreplaceability Revisited

How Could Constitutive Friendship Have Evolved from an Instrumental Beginning?

9 A Science of Friendship

A Neo-Aristotelian Framework

Friendship as a Moral Matter

Nature Fulfillment

Intersubjective Perspective

Capaciousness (Philia)

The Instrumental/Constitutive Distinction

The Individual/Shared Activity Distinction

Ends

The Evolution of Friendship

Friendship as a Human Good

The Evolution of Human Friendships

Loneliness and Isolation

Attachment Science

Attachment-Oriented Creatures

Strength and Longevity of Attachment Relationships

Attachment and Irreplaceability

Identity and Role Theory in Friendship

Friendship and the Social Nature of Humans

Friendship as Larger than Individuals

Cultural Prescriptions for Friendship

A Eudaimonic Theory of Friendship

What Does This Theory Mean for Real Friendships?

Final Thoughts

References.

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-750601-1

0-19-750602-X

0-19-750600-3

OCLC:

1581155744