The Intimate Friendship Scale is reviewed based on 16 studies relevant to children and preadolescents. The conceptual background is presented. Intimate friendship is considered a configuration of diverse but coherently related quantitatively commensurate elements, specified here. The structure of the original scale is described, as well as its eight dimensions of content. Data on the scale's reliability, content validity (through the use of judges), criterion validity (using reciprocity of choice), predictive validity (through follow-up comparisons after 7 years), construct validity (through comparisons involving kibbutz and city, social class, divorce, twins, defense mechanisms and group interventions) and discriminant validity (through comparisons with comradeship, popularity, role-taking, IQ and social desirability) are presented. The discussion addresses questions regarding the scale, and suggests directions for future research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arnon, A. (1978) `Emotional Expression and Intimate Friendship towards Significant Others in Kibbutz with Familial and Communal Sleeping Arrangements of Preadolescents', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Tel Aviv (Hebrew).
2.
Bettelheim, B. (1969) The Children of the Dream. New York: Macmillan.
3.
Bigelow, B.J. & LaGaipa, J.J. (1975) `Children's Written Descriptions of Friendship: A Multidimensional Analysis', Developmental Psychology11: 857-858.
4.
Breitbart, N. (1984) `Peer Relationship Patterns: Popularity and Intimate Friendship', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Haifa.
5.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989) `The Developing Ecology of Human Development: Paradigm Lost or Paradigm Regained', Annals of Child Development. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
6.
Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edn.Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
7.
Crowne, D. & Marlowe, P. (1964) The Approval Motive: Studies in Valuative Dependence. New York: Wiley.
8.
Engelstein, N. (1987) `The Relationship between Intimacy and Best Friend and Identity Formation in Adolescence and Early Adulthood', unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Education, George Washington University, Washington, DC.
9.
Erikson, E.H. (1964) `Eight Ages of Man', in C.B. Stendler (ed.) Readings in Child Behavior and Development. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
10.
Freud, A. & Dann, S. (1964) `An Experiment in Group Upbringing', in C.B. Stendler (ed.) Readings in Child Behavior and Development, pp. 122-140. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
11.
Gleser, G.C. & Ihlievich, D. (1969) `An Objective Instrument for Measuring Defence Mechanisms', Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology33 (1): 51-60.
12.
Guilford, J.P. (1965) Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York: McGraw-Hill.
13.
Hartup, W.W. (in press) `Cooperation, Close Relationships, and Cognitive Development', in W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb & W.W. Hartup (eds) The Company They Keep: Friendships and their Developmental Significance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
14.
Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. , Rosenberg, M. & Guttman, J. (1989) `Children of Divorce and their Intimate Relationships with Parents and Peers', Youth and Society21: 85-104.
15.
Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. , Sharabany, R. & Tal, M. (1983) `Influence of Intimacy Level and Level of Reasoning on Changes in Moral Judgment', Iunim Bachinooch37-38: 41-66 (Hebrew).
16.
Itzchaky-Keesom, A. (1986) `The Relationship between Intimate Friendship of Girls with their Best Girlfriend and Level of Intimacy and Socialization Patterns within the Family', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Haifa (Hebrew).
17.
Jones, G.P. & Dembo, M.H. (1989) `Age and Sex-role Differences in Intimate Friendship during Childhood and Adolescence', Merrill-Palmer Quarterly35 (4): 445-462.
18.
Kriesman, D.C. (1969) `Social Interaction and Intimacy in Preschizophrenia', New York: Columbia University, dissertation.
19.
Lev Ran, A. & Sharabany, R. (1981) `The Development of Intimate Friendship among Kibbutz Children: A Longitudinal Study', based on a paper presented at the 6th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Toronto, Canada, August.
20.
Mayseless, O. (1993) `Gifted Adolescents and Intimacy in Close Same-sex Friendships', Journal of Youth and Adolescence22: 135-146.
21.
McNemar, Q. (1965) Psychological Statistics. New York: John Wiley.
22.
Ortar, G. (1966) A Battery of Group Intelligence Tests. Jerusalem: School of Education, Hebrew University/Israeli Ministry of Education.
23.
Regev, E. , Beit-Hallahmi, B. & Sharabany, R. (1980) `Affective Expressions under Three Child-rearing Conditions', Child Development51: 232-237.
24.
Rosenthal, L. (1980) `Relations between Intimate Friendship and Peer Group Orientation in Preadolescence', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Haifa (Hebrew).
25.
Runner, J. (1937) `Social Distance in Adolescent Relationships', American Journal of Sociology43: 428-439.
26.
Selman, R.L. & Byrne, D.F. (1973) `Manual for Scoring Stages of Social Role Taking in Moral and Non-moral Social Interviews', unpublished paper, Harvard University.
27.
Sharabany, R. (1973) `The Development of Intimacy among Children in the Kibbutz', paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August.
28.
Sharabany, R. (1974) `Intimate Friendship among Kibbutz and City Children and its Measurement', PhD dissertation, Cornell University, No. 74-17-682, Ann Arbor (Michigan 48106): University Microfilms International.
29.
Sharabany, R. (1980a) `Peer Group Relations among Kibbutz and City Preadolescents', paper presented at the International Congress of Psychology. Leipzig, East Germany, July.
30.
Sharabany, R. (1980b) `Development of Friendship in Cultural Perspective', unpublished report submitted to the Ford Foundation by the Israel Foundation Trustees, Grant No. 9.
31.
Sharabany, R. (1982a) `Comradeship: Peer Group Relations among Preadolescents in Kibbutz vs. City', Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin8 (2): 302-309.
32.
Sharabany, R. (1982b) `Friendship—Where is it Heading? Summary of Ten Years of Research', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Israeli Psychological Association, Haifa, Israel, February.
33.
Sharabany, R. (1986) `Patterns of Intimate Friendship in Middle vs. Lower-Class Children', paper presented at the Third International Conference on Personal Relationships, Herzlia, Israel, July.
34.
Sharabany, R. and Lazarowitz, R. (1981) `Do Friends Share and Communicate More Than Non-Friends?'International Journal of Behavioral Development4: 45-59.
35.
Sharabany, R. & Rosenthal, I. (1983) `Intimacy vs. Comradeship: Relations to Best Friend Compared to Group Orientation in the Israeli Kibbutz', paper presented at the 41st Annual Convention of the International Council of Psychologists, University of San Francisco, August.
36.
Sharabany, R. & Rosenthal, I. (1984) `Intimacy vs. Comradeship: Relations to Best Friend Compared to Group Orientation in the Israeli Kibbutz', International Psychologist25(2): 14.
37.
Sharabany, R. & Wiseman, H. (1993) `Close Relationships in Adolescence: The Case of the Kibbutz', Journal of Youth and Adolescence22 (6): 671-695.
38.
Sharabany, R. , Arnon, A. & Kav-Venaki, S. (1981a) `Friendship among Communal vs. Family Raised Children', paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, April.
39.
Sharabany, R. , Breitbart, N., Saxe, I. & Katz, M. (1984) `Intimacy vs. Popularity or Intimacy and Popularity?'Individual Development and Human Welfare: The Inaugural European Conference on Developmental Psychology, August.
40.
Sharabany, R. , Friedman, U. & Eshel, Y. (1986) `Friendship across the Lifespan: Adolescence to Young Adulthood', paper presented at the 21st International Congress of Applied Psychology, Jerusalem, July.
41.
Sharabany, R. , Gershoni, R. & Hoffman, J. (1981b) `Girl-friend, Boy-friend: Age and Sex Differences in Intimate Friendship', Developmental Psychology17 (6): 800-808.
42.
Sharabany, R. , Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. & Hodish, M. (under review) `Empathy, Intimacy and Socialization of Juvenile Delinquents'.
43.
Shechtman, Z. (1991) `Small Group Therapy and Preadolescent Same-sex Friendship', International Journal of Group Psychotherapy41: 227-243.
44.
Shechtman, Z. , Vurembrand, N. & Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. (1994) `A Dyadic and Gender-specific Analysis of Close Friendships of Preadolescents Receiving Group Psychotherapy', Journal of Social and Personal Relationships11(3): 443-448.
45.
Shifron, B. (1986) `The Simultaneous Development of Defence Mechanisms and Friendship Patterns during Adolescence', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Haifa (Hebrew).
46.
Sullivan, H.S. (1953) The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry. New York: Norton.
47.
Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms (1967) Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Company.
48.
Wilner, M. (1983) `Role Taking and its Relation to Social Proximity to the Object, Experience of Intimacy and Popularity among Children', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Haifa (Hebrew).
49.
Wiseman, H. & Lieblich, A. (1989) `Intimacy and Loneliness in the Transition to Adulthood', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Israeli Psychological Association, Haifa, February.
50.
Zohar, D. (1986) `Intimacy and Individuation of Twins', MA thesis, Dept of Psychology, University of Tel Aviv.
