A Celebrated Trilogy on Friendship

Autor: Agnaldo Garcia, Raquel Ferreira Miranda
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships. 2:127-130
ISSN: 1981-6472
DOI: 10.5964/ijpr.v2i1.21
Popis: The concept and the nature of friendship have been discussed for centuries. Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Aelred are only a few of the classic thinkers who explored the theme. In our contemporary world, friendships become more and more important as human populations grow in number, in mobility, and in communication resources, making human encounters more frequent and intense. My purpose here is to present a joint review of three books on friendship written by the same author (Yager, 1999, 2002, 2004). Although these books have already been published some time ago, I believe that this review will be useful for readers all over the world as a number of translations into several different languages have appeared recently. 1) Friendshifts: The Power of Friendship and How It Shapes Our Lives (Yager, 1999) is divided in five parts. In the first part (That’s what friends are for) the author discusses the power and perspectives on friendships, the definition of a friend and an acquaintance, and friendship patterns. The second part is devoted to the analysis of how friendship changes throughout life (friendshifts) from childhood to adult life. The following part presents tips to be a better friend, to maintain and improve a friendship, to prevent a friendship from ending and to handle those that end. The fourth item analyses work and friendship, particularly how friendship enhances one’s career, and work friendships with the oppositesex. Finally, the last part explores the friendship factor in everyday life, providing some hints to make friendship a priority and to make friends and keep them for life. In this book, the author shows the impact friends have on how long one lives and how successful one is during one’s lifetime. The book is based on 20 years of study, interviews and surveys, showing how friends are important in one’s life. According to the author, healthy friendships can help self-esteem, reduce stress and improve the quality of life while harmful friends may be a dangerous companion. The author indicates how to recognize and deal with harmful friendships and she also offers guidance on being a better
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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