What Are Friends For? A Longer Life

“I argue that the most powerful thing you can do to add healthy years is to curate your immediate social network,” said Mr. Buettner, who advises people to focus on three to five real-world friends rather than distant Facebook friends.

 Bridgerton offers clever relationship advice — why friendship is the foundation of happy romantic partnerships

Indeed marriage researcher and psychologist John Gottman argues friendship is the foundation of happy romantic partnerships and the most important predictor of maintaining good relationships long-term.

 Friendships are crucial to survive the isolation of the coronavirus pandemic. Why do they feel so hard?

This period of social distancing may increase our loneliness, but it’s really only exacerbating a problem that’s been building for years.

 How Friends Become Closer

It’s hard to organize a busy life so that it has enough room for deep friendships, but there are a few strategies that may help.

 If you’re wondering why you’ve lost friends in adulthood, this is probably why

We all do it, and it’s probably doing damage to our friendships.

 Reconnect With the Work Friends You Miss

Some people haven’t seen the co-workers they care about in person in close to a year—here’s how to get your office BFF back in your orbit.

 The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship

There’s a reason you miss the people you didn’t even know that well.

 The Science of Making Friends

Our number of friends starts to decrease steadily in adulthood; there are ways to reverse the tide.

 The Surprising Science Behind Friendship

New research shows how crucial friendship is not only for happiness and emotional well-being, but physical health too, a new book reveals.

 The Trick to Keeping Friends as We Get Older

It’s hard to maintain friendships and make new ones. But it’s crucial.

 They Thought Their Friendship was Rock Solid. Then the Pandemic Happened

While differences over COVID has imploded the closeness between some people, others have rekindled old relationships with childhood and high school friends.

 We’re treating friendships like transactions, and it’s ruining relationships

How are your friendship metrics—got lots of pals? Would you rate them five stars or less? Are they helping you live your best life? We can quantify everything now—from our steps on Fitbit to our literary consumption on Goodreads. As a result, we feel we must make everything and everyone count for something. That’s a phenomenon which is both distressing and depressing as it applies to friendship.

 What We Lose When We Lose Acquaintances

Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Amanda Mull, a staff writer for The Atlantic, about what we lose when we no longer have relationships with the peripheral people in our lives due to the pandemic.

 Why friendships are falling apart over politics

The old mantra to “never discuss religion or politics” was a recognition that political differences can create awkward social situations. And research my colleagues and I conducted found that the mere prospect of discussing divisive topics can make you feel anxious and threatened.

What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?

“Our boyfriends, our significant others, and our husbands are supposed to be No. 1. Our worlds are backward.”

A new wave of apps say they can improve your friendships – can they?

Always forgetting birthdays? Terrible at staying in touch? New tech promises to turn you into the best buddy ever. We put it to the test.

Friendship Is Good For You—Unless it Is Strained

We know that friendship can benefit health. What we don’t know is what kind of friendships are most beneficial. Robert M. Sapolsky on new research.

Friendship: Friends with many benefits

No wonder friendship feels so good: for us humans, friends are not an optional extra – we evolved to rely on them. You might even say we're addicted.

Friendships Change. Here's How To Deal

If your friendships are going to last a long time, you simply have to accept that things will always change, and the changes that happen won't always be comfortable.

How your friends affect your health

Think about your five closest friends. What do they care about? Do they love the gym? Long walks on the beach? Maybe they smoke, or are overweight. You should choose your friends wisely, because they can have a big influence on your health.

The Type of Love That Makes People Happiest

When it comes to lasting romance, passion has nothing on friendship.

Why we’re better off with fewer friends

Surely more friends equals more happiness? Not true. The growth in the number of our friends has actually been accompanied with an increase in social isolation, as Sherry Turkle describes. We are more connected, yet more alone.

Maintaining Long-Distance Friendships in College: The Ultimate Guide [2024]

Long-distance friendships are fun and exciting, but there are also many obstacles associated with them. Adjusting and getting used to new ways of communicating can be challenging and may even put your friendship at risk.