Resumo

SOUZA, Luciana Karine de  e  SEDIYAMA, Cristina Yumi Nogueira. International friendships: overview of empirical literature and a descriptive study. Barbaroi [online]. 2012, n.36, pp. 6-28. ISSN 0104-6578.

Friendship is one of the most important interpersonal relationships to human development. However studies that analyze Brazilian´s perceptions of friendship in comparison to participants from other cultures are scarce. This study is twofold: 1) present an overview of empirical studies about the friendship perceptions in different countries, and 2) present a descriptive study about the perception of friendship in adults with foreign nationality that live in Brazil and compare it to Brazilian´s. Data collection resulted in 14 Brazilian students and 14 students from different nationalities, all regular students from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. The variables about best friendships analyzed were frequency, gender, origin, duration, reciprocity, and geographical proximity. Main results indicated a prevalence of same-sex friendships in all participants. Results also showed that the Brazilian sample presented a higher mean of friendships living in the same city as they were at the time of the data collection. Strong bonding between foreign students and their best friendships from home countries are discussed.

Palavras-chave : Friendship; Relationship; Cross-cultural studies.

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