Interpersonal relationships are sources of social contact and intimacy, two integral elements of human survival in any culture. Friendly relationships are an outgrowth of role relationships and are possibly a prelude to friendship, while friendships are intimate relationships involving two regard to the level of intimacy present – relationships being more intimate than friendly relations.
Another way in which friendly relations and friendship differ is with respect to the temporal dimension. Friendly relations, according to Kurth (1970), involve a present orientation, which focuses on the encounter that is taking place. In a friendship participants engage in interaction regarding the past and future, as well as the present.
In defining the term friendship, Wright (1978) focuses on two aspects of the relationships:
The voluntary nature of the interaction means friendship are entered into voluntarily and informally agree to get together often in the absence of external constrains or pressures.…