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RESEARCH PAPER

Toward a Better Understanding of the RelationshipBetween Friendship and Happiness: Perceived Responsesto Capitalization Attempts, Feelings of Mattering,and Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs in Same-Sex Best Friendships as Predictors of Happiness

Meliksah Demir • Ingrid Davidson

� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract Friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, yet less is known about the

associations of friendship specific experiences and feelings with happiness. In this study

(n = 4,382) the roles of perceived responses to capitalization attempts, perceived mat-

tering to and satisfaction of basic psychological needs in same-sex best friendships in

happiness among men and women were investigated. Findings showed that although all of

the friendship variables were positively associated with happiness to varying degrees, basic

needs satisfaction emerged as the strongest predictor of happiness. Additional analyses

revealed that competence need satisfaction was the most important need predicting hap-

piness. Importantly, these findings were gender invariant. The findings were discussed in

light of theory and empirical literature and suggestions were made for future research.

Keywords Capitalization � Ethnic groups � Friendship � Happiness � Perceived mattering �Psychological needs satisfaction � Same-sex best friendship

1 Introduction

Friendship plays an essential role in the lives of individuals and is an important correlate

of happiness. Since the first empirical work investigating the correlates of happiness

(Watson 1930), decades of theoretical and empirical work in the scientific literature on

happiness consistently documented the robust association between various friendship

indices (having a friend, number of friends, friendship satisfaction, friendship support

and intimacy, overall friendship quality) and happiness (e.g., Baldassare et al. 1984;

Campbell et al. 1976; Requena 1995; Sheldon and Tan 2007; Wilson 1967). Importantly,

the friendship-happiness link has been observed across age, ethnic and cultural groups

with several methods, including observational and longitudinal assessments (for a review

see Demir et al., in press). Although the current literature leaves no doubt regarding the

friendship-happiness link, knowing that the individual has a close friend or enjoys

M. Demir (&) � I. DavidsonNorthern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USAe-mail: [email protected]

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J Happiness StudDOI 10.1007/s10902-012-9341-7

varying degrees of support and intimacy in the friendship, which has been a main focus

of past empirical research, does not provide any information about how the specific

friendship experiences or the general feelings about the friendship are associated with

happiness. For instance, do positive responses one receives from a same-sex best friend

upon sharing a positive event relate to happiness? Does the feeling that one matters to

her same-sex best friend have any implications for happiness? What is the role of

satisfying one’s basic psychological needs in a friendship in individual happiness? Since

past studies overwhelmingly focused on number of friends or general friendship quality

(e.g., support), less is known about the associations of friendship specific experiences and

feelings with happiness.

The present study aimed to address this limitation of the current literature by examining

the roles of three friendship specific experiences in happiness. Specifically, the first aim of

the present investigation was to examine the roles of perceived response to one’s capi-

talization attempts, perceived mattering to the best friend, and satisfaction of basic psy-

chological needs in a same-sex best friendship in individual happiness. In doing so, we also

investigated which of these three friendship variables made the strongest contribution to

happiness. Recent studies and theoretical arguments suggest that close relationships have

stronger associations with happiness among women when compared to men (e.g., Saphire-

Bernstein and Taylor, in press). Accordingly, the second goal of the study was to examine

whether the three friendship variables had similar implications for the happiness of men

and women.

1.1 Happiness

It is imperative to describe what is meant by happiness and how it is assessed in the present

study before the relationships between happiness and the study variables are reviewed.

This is especially important considering the fact that recent and past empirical studies

investigating the friendship-happiness link defined and measured happiness in different

ways (Chaplin 2009; Cheng and Furnham 2002; Ellison 1990; Gladow and Ray 1986;

Requena 1995; Schiffrin and Nelson 2010).

Happiness is the cognitive and affective evaluations of one’s own life and consists of

global life satisfaction, presence of positive affect, and absence of negative affect (Diener

et al. 1999). The present investigation focused on the affective component of happiness.

This was because of the arguments suggesting that the two components of happiness

(cognitive and affect) are different constructs and require different lines of research to

understand each one individually (e.g., Diener et al. 1999; Lent 2004). Also, and more

importantly, it has been argued that friendship, as an emotional bond, would be strongly

related to the affective dimension of happiness compared to the cognitive dimension

(Demir and Ozdemir 2010; Demir and Weitekamp 2007). Accordingly, the present study

investigated the affective dimension of happiness and defined happiness as the predomi-

nance of positive affect over negative affect (Diener et al. 1999).

Since the seminal works of Watson (1930) and others (Diener 1984; Wilson 1967),

several correlates, causes, and consequences of happiness have been identified (e.g.,

Argyle 2001; Lyubomirsky et al. 2005; Sheldon and Tan 2007). The focus of the current

investigation was on friendship experiences, a well-established correlate and predictor of

individual happiness. In the following sections, we first present a theoretical account of

friendship and then provide a detailed theoretical and empirical review of the associations

between the constructs of the present study and happiness.

M. Demir, I. Davidson

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1.2 Friendship and Happiness

Friendship is a voluntary interdependence between two individuals that includes the

experience and satisfaction of various provisions (e.g., intimacy) to varying degrees (Hays

1988; Weiss 1974). These provisions include, but are not limited to, companionship,

emotional security, support, and self-validation. Theory suggests that individuals seek to

experience and satisfy these different provisions in their friendships (Cutrona and Russell

1987; Weiss 1974).

Decades of empirical research consistently reported a positive association between the

satisfaction of a single provision (e.g., support) in or overall quality of the friendship and

happiness (Baldassare et al. 1984; Camfield et al. 2009; Cheng and Furnham 2002; Demir

and Weitekamp 2007; Gladow and Ray 1986; Hussong 2000; Lu 1995; Walen and

Lachman 2000). Empirical research also investigated various indices of friendship. Spe-

cifically, research showed that friendship satisfaction (e.g., Rojas 2006), number of friends

(e.g., Demir and Weitekamp 2007; Requena 1995) and frequency of interactions with a

friend (e.g., Berry and Hansen 1996; Burt 1987) were positively related to individual

happiness (for a review see Demir et al., in press).

There is no doubt that the empirical investigation of the friendship-happiness link

significantly enhanced our understanding of the role of friendships in individual happiness.

This is acknowledged in the reviews of the literature (e.g., Argyle 2001; Berscheid and

Reis 1998; Demir et al., in press; Diener et al. 1999). Yet, the empirical knowledge about

the relationship specific feelings and experiences in the friendship that are related to

happiness is limited. For instance, although friendship intimacy and overall friendship

quality are related to happiness, we do not know the extent to which receiving positive

responses from a same-sex best friend or the degree that one satisfies his/her basic psy-

chological needs in the friendship are related to individual happiness. That is, available

research does not address the associations of specific friendship experiences with happi-

ness. We elaborate on this point in detail below.

Researchers either focus on the number of friends one has or various relationship

provisions when investigating the association of friendship with happiness. When the focus

is on relationship provisions, assessments include the degree of satisfaction with or the

frequency of the experience of various relationship provisions (e.g., intimacy) in the

friendship (e.g., Furman and Buhrmester 1985; Mendelson and Aboud 1999). This rea-

sonable focus on theoretical provisions also influences the theoretical arguments explaining

why friends are important for happiness. For instance, it has been argued that satisfaction

of these various provisions (companionship, intimacy, support) is the reason friendships

are related to happiness (Argyle 2001; Cooper et al. 1992; Demir and Weitekamp 2007;

Diener and Biswas-Diener 2008; Lyubomirsky 2008; Reis 2001; Taylor 2010).

One essential point to remember, though, is that friendship involves not only the sat-

isfaction of various provisions but also various relationship specific experiences and

feelings. That is, friendship does not only entail receiving support or experiencing intimacy

but also includes a diverse set of relationship experiences such as the degree to which basic

psychological needs are satisfied in the friendship. As Wellman (1992) aptly put it, con-

sidering friendship only as an intimate or supportive bond would limit ‘‘one’s worldview to

a California hot tub (p. 104).’’

We also believe that having an exclusive focus on the number of friends, how frequently

one interacts with a friend, and how frequently one experiences and satisfies various

provisions in a friendship would implicitly suggest these indices of friendship as the main

routes for happiness. Such an empirical focus would not be complete without the

Toward a Better Understanding

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consideration of the roles of various friendship experiences (e.g., psychological needs

satisfaction) in happiness. In order to address this limitation, the current investigation

examined the roles of three relatively new social relationship constructs in individual

happiness: perceived responses to one’s capitalization attempts, perceived mattering, and

satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The present study also examined which of the

three friendship specific experiences make the biggest contribution to happiness. We

consider this an essential empirical task since past research regularly compares the roles of

friendship quantity to overall quality (e.g., Demir and Weitekamp 2007) and various

relationship provisions (intimacy vs. support and support vs. companionship; e.g., Pinquart

and Sorensen 2000; Rook 1987) to understand which aspects and features of friendship

matter most for happiness. This approach has the potential to delineate which friendship

specific experience(s) is the most critical one for happiness.

2 Friendship Specific Experiences

2.1 Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts

Imagine that Jessica, who has been unemployed for more than a year after receiving her Ph.D.,

gets a job offer. What would she do? According to theory and empirical research, she is going to

share this event with significant others in her social network (a friend). This is referred to as

capitalization and defined as ‘‘the process of informing another person about the occurrence of a

personal positive event and thereby deriving additional benefit from it’’ (Gable et al. 2004,

p. 228). Research shows that when individuals share positive events with significant others they

experience increases in their happiness even when controlling for the valence of the positive

events (Gable et al. 2004; Langston 1994). Although sharing positive events with friends is

associated with one’s happiness above and beyond the valence of the event itself, Gable and her

colleagues (Gable et al. 2006, 2004; Gable and Reis 2001, 2010) point out that perceiving the

responses of the friend as positive and supportive (recognizing and validating the importance of

the event) are equally important in influencing the benefits one might receive from this process.

This is because, according to the theory and research, individuals experience better psycho-

social outcomes when the responses of their friends make them feel understood, validated and

cared for (Laurenceau et al. 1998; Maisel et al. 2008; Reis et al. 2004; Reis and Shaver 1988).

Considering the fact that one might receive a variety of different responses upon sharing a

positive event with a friend, it is essential to categorize these responses and investigate their

implications for happiness.

Gable and her colleagues (e.g., Gable et al. 2004), relying on past research on reactions to

conflict in close relationships (e.g., Rusbult et al. 1991) identified four types of responses to

capitalization attempts: active-constructive (AC), passive-constructive (PC), active-destructive

(AD), and passive-destructive (PD). AC responses entail giving enthusiastic reactions to one’s

capitalization attempts. PC reactions include silent and modest support responses. AD

responses degrade the importance of the event and highlight potential problems with the

positive event. Finally, PD reactions involve not showing an interest and ignoring the event. The

following example displays these different responses. Jessica tells her same-sex best friend,

Kate, that she received a job offer. Kate might react active-constructively if she states ‘‘That is

terrific news. I am very happy for you. Let’s go out and celebrate.’’ She could provide a passive-

constructive response if she smiles and says ‘‘That is cool.’’ She might respond active-

destructively by saying ‘‘I heard that that university is accepting every applicant, so it is not a big

deal.’’ Finally, a passive-destructive response of Kate might be ‘‘I have a date tonight.’’


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Empirical research investigating the relationships of perceived responses to capitali-

zation attempts with relationship (e.g., quality) and individual well-being (e.g., happiness)

revealed that of the four responses, only active-constructive reactions were positively

associated with well-being. The other three responses were negatively related to these well-

being indices (Gable et al. 2004, 2006). Similar findings were obtained in a cross-cultural

study on friendship as well (Dogan and Demir 2009). Specifically, it was reported that only

active-constructive responses were positively related to same-sex friendship quality and

happiness among young adults in Turkey and the USA, whereas the other three responses

were negatively associated with these outcomes.

Considering the consistent relationships between the responses to capitalization

attempts and well-being and in an attempt to simplify the presentation of responses, Gable

and her colleagues created a composite score of capitalization by subtracting the scores for

the three responses (AD, PC, PD) from the active-constructive scores. The composite score

indicates ‘‘more positive and less negative responses to capitalization attempts.’’ (Gable

et al. 2004, p. 234). In empirical research, composite capitalization score was associated

with higher levels of psychological well-being (e.g., happiness) (Dogan and Demir 2009;

Gable et al. 2004). This composite score was used in the present study when investigating

the role of perceived responses to capitalization attempts in happiness. In light of the

consistent findings obtained in empirical research, it was predicted that the composite

capitalization score would be positively associated with happiness.

2.2 Perceived Mattering

There are times in any close relationship when the individual is concerned about her

mattering to the significant other. The individual might wonder about her standing on the

list of things and relationships the friend cares about. The construct of interpersonal

mattering addresses these feelings (Dixon Rayle 2005; Rosenberg 1985). Although mat-

tering to significant others constitues an important aspect of self-concept that has received

considerable theoretical attention from scholars in different fields for several decades

(Coopersmith 1967; Rosenberg and McCullough 1981; Rosenberg 1985), only recently

have scholars provided conceptual as opposed to phenomenological definitions and

focused on measurement issues. Specifically, interpersonal mattering is defined as ‘‘the

psychological tendency to evaluate the self as significant to specific other people’’ (Mar-

shall 2001, p. 474). Also, empirical research recently started investigating the psychosocial

well-being correlates and consequences of perceived mattering to significant others (Demir

et al. 2011; Dixon Rayle and Chung 2007; Elliott et al. 2004; Mak and Marshall 2004;

Marshall 2001).

The theoretical and empirical research on perceived mattering to significant others (e.g.,

friends) in the past decade can be summarized by three major points. First, mattering to

another person is not about the quality of a relationship but the self-perceived relevance to

a significant other (e.g., friend). That is, mattering denotes a sense of belonging and

relatedness and highlights the feelings of significance and relevance to specific significant

others (Demir et al. 2011; Marshall 2001). Second, individuals develop a sense of mat-

tering to significant others by focusing on their past relationship experiences (Marshall

2001), comparing the attention they receive from the person in question to the amount of

attention that specific person gives to other activities, friends, and things (Elliott et al.

2004) and through various relationship experiences (e.g., the friend going the extra mile to

spend time with the individual) (Demir et al. 2011; Dixon Rayle 2005; Dixon Rayle and

Chung 2007). Third, feelings of mattering to significant others are positively associated


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with various indices of well-being (e.g., self-esteem) (Connolly and Myers 2002; Dixon

Rayle and Chung 2007; Elliott et al. 2004; Schieman and Taylor 2001; Taylor and Turner

2001).

Recent empirical research also investigated the association between perceived mattering

to friends and positive psychological well-being. For instance, Dixon Rayle (2005) and

Marshall (2001) have reported that individuals who perceive that they matter to their

friends reported higher levels of well-being (e.g., self-esteem). More importantly, Demir

and his colleagues (Demir et al. 2011) showed that mattering to friends was positively

associated with happiness. In light of the empirical evidence, it was predicted that per-

ceived mattering to a same-sex best friend would be positively associated with happiness.

2.3 Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Self-Determination Theory (SDT, Deci and Ryan 2000) attempts to elucidate on why and

how people perform certain behaviors, and the effects of these processes on psychosocial

well-being. SDT consists of four mini theories, of which the present investigation focused

on basic psychological needs theory. Basic needs theory (BNT) is concerned with three

basic psychological needs and examines the link between people’s satisfaction of these

needs and psychosocial well-being. According to theory, autonomy, competence and

relatedness are three universal, fundamental and innate basic human needs (Deci and Ryan

2000). Indeed, these three needs were rated among the four most important needs by

college students in different cultures (Sheldon et al. 2001). Autonomy refers to feelings of

agency, volition and involves initiating one’s own actions (Deci and Ryan 1985). Com-

petence refers to feelings of efficacy and being capable (Ryan and Deci 2000). Finally,

relatedness refers to feeling connected to and cared for by others, and developing close

relationships with them (Baumeister and Leary 1995; Ryan and Deci 2000). BNT proposes

that all of these needs have to be satisfied in order to experience optimal well-being (Deci

and Ryan 2000). The theory further suggests that satisfaction of these needs in general or in

close relationships have important implications for the well-being of the individual (e.g.,

Deci and Ryan 2002).

Several empirical studies investigated the satisfaction of the basic needs in daily

experiences, in a variety of different close relationships (parent–child and romantic rela-

tionships) and contexts (e.g., sports). Consistent with the theoretical arguments, these

studies showed a positive association between needs satisfaction and happiness (Chirkov

et al. 2005; Patrick et al. 2007; Reis et al. 2000; Sheldon et al. 1996; Vansteenkiste et al.

2006; Wilson et al. 2006). Of particular importance for the purposes of the present study, a

few studies also showed that satisfaction of these basic psychological needs in a friendship

was positively related to individual happiness (Deci et al. 2006; Demir and Ozdemir 2010;

La Guardia et al. 2000). Considering the available evidence, it was predicted that basic

psychological needs satisfaction in a same-sex best friendship would be positively related

to happiness.

One theoretical issue that might inevitably arise in the investigation of basic psycho-

logical needs in predicting well-being outcomes pertains to the importance of one need

over the other. That is, of the three needs, which one is the strongest predictor of happi-

ness? In the literature, some investigators focused on the predictive ability of the overall

needs satisfaction (e.g., Wei et al. 2005); whereas others examined not only overall needs

satisfaction but also individual needs (e.g., relatedness) (e.g., La Guardia et al. 2000). In

the present study, we were first concerned with the relationship of overall psychological

needs satisfaction with happiness. If the findings showed that overall psychological needs


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satisfaction was the strongest predictor of happiness when compared to the other rela-

tionship-specific experiences, only then would we examine the role of individual psy-

chological needs in predicting happiness.

One essential theoretical issue to consider is that the friendship variables investigated in

the present study are ultimately related to the overall quality of the friendship. Logically,

one has to have a friendship in the first place to develop a perception of these various

relationship specific feelings and experiences (e.g., mattering). The growing literature

investigating various friendship specific experiences has shown that these variables (e.g.,

perceived mattering) are positively associated with different indices of friendship (e.g.,

friendship satisfaction, overall quality) commonly studied in the literature (e.g., Deci et al.

2006; Demir 2011; Marshall 2001). These studies yield correlations in the r = .20–.60

range, which clearly shows that friendship quality and these specific friendship experiences

tap into different aspects of the relationship. Also, it has been argued that overall friendship

quality might be a consequence of certain relationship experiences (e.g., receiving positive

responses from a friend) (Dogan and Demir 2009) or promote these relationship specific

feelings (e.g., Demir and Ozdemir 2010). All in all, the specific friendship feelings and

experiences examined in the present study are not redundant with friendship quality or

other indices of friendship. Rather, they tap into relationship experiences not covered by

the measures commonly used in the literature investigating the friendship-happiness link.

Overall, only a handful of studies have shown that these three friendship specific

feelings and experiences are positively associated with happiness. This first aim of this

investigation was to confirm and establish these associations in a large sample of college

students. Then, we examined the relative importance of these variables in happiness. As

explained earlier, this practice will help determine which particular friendship experience

matters most for individual happiness. Since this is the first study to simultaneously

investigate these friendship experiences, we did not have any specific predictions.

The second goal of this study was to investigate whether the associations between the

friendship variables and happiness were similar across the two sexes. The literature on

gender differences in friendship (e.g., women having higher quality friendships when

compared to men) resulted in arguments suggesting that women, compared to men, would

benefit more from their friendship experiences. The next section addresses this issue in

detail.

2.4 Gender Differences in Friendship Experiences and Happiness

Any investigation of close relationships and how these intimate exchanges might be dif-

ferentially related to individual happiness would not be complete without taking gender

differences into account. In this section we first review the literature on gender differences

in happiness, friendship experiences and the friendship variables investigated in the present

study. Then, we provide an overall review of the literature concerning gender differences

in the social relationships-happiness link.

Empirical research suggests that gender is not an important variable in predicting

happiness (Demir and Weitekamp 2007; Diener et al. 2002). Men and women do not

considerably differ from each other on happiness. When differences are found, they are

very small and considered as negligible (Haring et al. 1984; Diener et al. 1999). On the

other hand, men and women differ from each other in terms of the intensity of emotional

experiences (Fujita et al. 1991). Overall, both men and women are equally likely to report

being happy (e.g., Myers and Diener 1995). Accordingly, it was predicted that no gender

differences would be obtained on happiness.


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One of the well-established finding in the literature on gender differences in friendship

is that the same-sex best friendships of women are higher in overall quality when compared

to men (King and Terrance 2008; for reviews and theoretical explanations accounting for

this difference see Winstead et al. 1997). Not surprisingly, similar gender differences have

been obtained for the variables of the present study. As for perceived responses to capi-

talization attempts, women, compared to men, report receiving more positive responses

(e.g., active-constructive) following the sharing of a positive event with a significant other

(romantic partner or friend) (Dogan and Demir 2009; Gable et al. 2006; Roy et al. 2000).

Research also found that women, when compared to men, report higher levels of perceived

mattering and needs satisfaction in their friendships and other close relationships (Marshall

2001; Patrick et al. 2007; see Ryan et al. (2005) for a null finding). Considering the gender

differences in friendship experiences, an important point to consider is whether these

differences in friendship experiences translate into the associations of these variables with

happiness. That is, are the relationships between friendship experiences and happiness

stronger among women when compared to men?

Decades of empirical research on gender differences in close relationships and in

friendships in particular led to the arguments that women, compared to men, experience the

benefits and costs of relationships rather strongly (Burks et al. 1995; Walen and Lachman

2000). The reasoning behind this argument has been that since relationships play a more

important role in the lives of women than men and women experience higher quality

relationships compared to men, they should experience higher levels of psychological well-

being. Empirical research focusing on marital quality and the quantity of social networks in

old adulthood were consistent with this idea such that these relationship indices had

stronger associations with happiness among women in comparison to men (Pinquart and

Sorensen 2000; Proulx et al. 2007; for a review see Saphire-Bernstein and Taylor, in press).

In the case of friendship, however, the findings have been inconsistent. Some studies found

support for the idea that friendship experiences are more important for the adjustment of

women than men (e.g., Patrick et al. 2001) whereas other studies provided evidence

supporting the opposite pattern (e.g., Antonucci and Akiyama 1987; Demir and Urberg

2004). The majority of the studies on this topic, however, reported that friendship expe-

riences are similarly related to the well-being (e.g., happiness) of both sexes (Cohen et al.

1986; Demir and Orthel 2011; Jenkins et al. 2002; Nangle et al. 2003; Oldenburg and

Kerns 1997).

As the review above suggests, the literature regarding gender differences in the

friendship-happiness link has been inconsistent. Yet, the majority of empirical research

showed that the associations of friendship experiences with happiness are similar across the

two sexes. Accordingly, it was predicted that the associations of the study variables with

happiness would be similar among men and women.

2.5 Summary of the Hypotheses

In light of the literature, it was predicted that satisfaction of basic psychological needs,

perceived mattering to the friend and perceived responses to one’s capitalization attempts

would be positively associated with individual happiness and the associations of these

variables with happiness would be similar among men and women. No predictions were

made regarding the relative importance of these variables in happiness since no study to

date examined these friendship experiences simultaneously.


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3 Method

3.1 Participants

The original sample consisted of 4,840 college students attending a Southwestern uni-

versity in the US. Of the participants, 7 % (n = 339) did not report having a same-sex best

friend and 4.5 % (n = 218) did not complete all of the measures. The rate for not having a

same-sex best friend is consistent with past research (Demir and Ozdemir 2010; Demir

et al. 2007). With the exclusion of these participants, the final sample consisted of 4,283

college students (1,130 men; Mage = 18.81, SD = 1.44; ranging from 18–29 years). The

ethnic distribution of the sample was as follows: 59 % European American, 24 % Latino

American, 5 % Asian American, 4 % African American, 3 % Native American and 5 %

mixed or other. Also, the majority of the participants were freshmen (79 %).

3.2 Procedure

The data for this study were gathered online across five academic semesters (2009–2011).

The following specific procedures were consistently employed across the semesters. First,

the study was announced via the department’s online research participation system. Sec-

ond, students who wanted to participate in the study were provided with a link to the

survey after signing up for the study. It is important to note that there was not any

connection between the sign-ups for the study and the survey. In other words, respondents

remained anonymous. Participants had to agree to an informed consent prior to completing

the questionnaires. The participants completed questionnaires other than the ones reported

below (e.g., emotion regulation), but only the constructs relevant for the purposes of the

present investigation are reported. In the survey, the order of the questionnaires was

counterbalanced. Completion of the survey lasted for about 30 min and participants

received extra credit for their psychology classes.

It is important to note that the online research participation system relied on the recruitment

of the participants controls for repeated participation in the study. That is, a participant who

completed the survey earlier was not allowed to participate in the same study. Also, and more

importantly, the participants across semesters did not differ from each other on the demographic

variables (age, ethnicity) and their scores on the study variables (e.g., happiness).

3.3 Measures

3.3.1 Assessment of Best Friendships

In an attempt to prevent any potential ambiguities in the meaning of friendship (Reisman

1981), the participants were provided a definition of friendship (Demir and Weitekamp

2007, p. 195). Following the definition, participants were asked to indicate whether they

had a same-sex best friend. They were cautioned not to consider their romantic partner as a

friend or to include any close friend they had any type of sexual involvement with or

romantic interest in. The present study focused on same-sex best friendships because

theory and empircial research suggest that best friendships usually involve same-sex peers

(Demir and Ozdemir 2010; Laursen and Bukowski 1997; Richey and Richey 1980), and it

is difficult to maintain cross-sex friendships for various reasons (e.g., sexual tension)

(Monsour 2002; O’Meara 1989). Although young adults in college develop and maintain


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opposite-sex friendships (Monsour 2002), and may even consider them as their best

friends, an overwhelming majority of young adults’ best and several closest friends are

same-sex (Demir et al. 2007; Demir and Ozdemir 2010; Sheets and Lugar 2005).

As explained above, 7 % of the sample did not report having a same-sex best friend.

These individuals were excluded from the analyses. Participants in the final sample

reported a mean duration of 70.51 (SD = 49.55) months for their best friendships. The

duration of the friendship was not related to basic psychological needs, perceived mattering

to the friend, perceived responses to one’s capitalization attempts, and happiness (rs .03,

.03, .05, and .05, respectively).

3.3.2 Responses to Capitalization Attempts

The Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts scale (PRCA) of Gable et al. (2004)

was used to measure participants’ perceptions of their same-sex best friends’ (SSBF)

typical responses to the sharing of positive events. The PRCA consists of 12 items

assessing four types of responses with three items each: active constructive (AC), passive

constructive (PC), active destructive (AD), and passive destructive (PD). Participants were

asked to rate each item on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all true through 7 = very true) using

the stem, ‘‘When I tell my same-sex best friend about something good that has happened to

me…,’’. Sample items for the subscales include: AC response ‘‘I sometimes get the sense

that my same-sex best friend is even more happy and excited than I am.’’, PC response

‘‘My same-sex best friend says little, but I know he/she is happy for me.’’, AD response

‘‘My same-sex best friend often finds a problem with it.’’, and PD response ‘‘My same-sex

best friend doesn’t pay much attention to me.’’ A mean of items assessing different types of

responses was taken to create the subscale composite scores.

Past research has shown that only AC responses are positively associated with psychosocial

well-being (e.g., happiness), whereas the other three responses are negatively correlated with

relationship and individual well-being (Demir 2011; Gable et al. 2004). Consistent findings

were obtained in the present study for happiness for both men and women (correlations of AC,

PC, AD and PD with happiness were: Men: r (1,130) = .20, -.11, -.25, -.32; Women: n

(3,153) = .19, -.18, -.23, -.27; all values significant at the p \ .01 level). Accordingly, in

order to simplify the presentation of the scale and be consistent with earlier research (Demir

2011; Gable et al. 2004) a composite capitalization score was created by subtracting the mean of

the PC, AD, and PD subscales from the AC subscale. A high composite score indicates more

active-constructive and less passive-destructive responses.

Previous research has shown that the composite capitalization score was positively

associated with relationship quality, satisfaction (friends and romantic partners) and

individual happiness (Demir 2011; Dogan and Demir 2009; Gable et al. 2004, 2006). As

for reliability, it has been reported that the overall scale had Cronbach’s alphas above .80

and the internal consistency of the subscales ranged from .75 to .81 (Dogan and Demir

2009; Gable et al. 2004). In the present investigation, the overall scale had acceptable

reliability for both men (a = .85) and women (a = .83).

3.3.3 Perceived Mattering

Perceived mattering to the same-sex best friend was assessed with the Mattering to Others

Questionnaire (MTOQ; Marshall 2001). MTOQ assesses the degree of perceived mattering

to significant others. In the present study, participants were asked to indicate how they

think their same-sex best friends were thinking about them. The instrument consists of 11


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items. Nine of the items (e.g., ‘‘I feel special to my same-sex best friend’’, ‘‘I matter to my

same-sex best friend’’) are rated on a 5-point scale (1 = not at all, 5 = a lot) and two

items ask the respondent to indicate where they would stand on a list (1 = bottom,

5 = top) if their friend made a list of things he/she thinks and cares about.

Marshall (2001) provided structural and external validity information for the MTOQ.

For instance, the scale has shown to be positively associated with self-esteem, relationship

closeness, social support and purpose in life while being negatively related to negative

friendship experiences (e.g., rejection). Past research has shown that the MTOQ has strong

internal consistency among adolescents and young adults (Demir et al. 2011; Marshall

2001). In the present study, item ratings across the eleven items are summed to create the

Perceived Mattering to Best Friend composite score (a was .91 among men and women).

Higher scores indicate higher levels of mattering.

3.3.4 Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

The Need Satisfaction Scale (La Guardia et al. 2000) was used to assess the extent to which

the participants satisfied their autonomy, competence and relatedness needs in their same-

sex best friendships. The scale consists of 9 items and assesses each need with 3 items.

Items are rated on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all true, 7 = very true). Sample items are as

follows: ‘‘When I am with my same-sex best friend I feel free to be who I am’’ (autonomy),

‘‘When I am with my same-sex best friend I feel like a competent person’’ (competence),

and ‘‘When I am with my same-sex best friend I feel a lot of closeness and intimacy’’

(relatedness). Composite scores for the subscales were created by taking the mean of

respective items (after reverse coding certain items). Also, a composite basic psychological

needs satisfaction score was computed by taking the mean of all items. Higher scores

indicate higher levels of needs satisfaction in the friendship.

Previous research using the scale to assess satisfaction of needs in friendships showed

that overall needs satisfaction was positively associated with relationship well-being (i.e.,

satisfaction, quality) and happiness (Deci et al. 2006; La Guardia et al. 2000; Ozen et al.

2011). As for reliability, past research has shown that not only the subscales but also the

overall scale had acceptable internal consistencies (alphas ranging from .65 to .94) (e.g.,

Demir and Ozdemir 2010; La Guardia et al. 2000). In the present study, the internal

consistencies of the autonomy, competence and relatedness subscales were .74, .76, .80 for

men and .76, .75, .82 for women, respectively. The realibility of the entire scale was

acceptable for both men (a = .78) and women (a = .80).

3.3.5 Happiness

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) (Watson et al. 1988) was used to

assess happiness. Prior studies also relied on this instrument to assess happiness (e.g.,

Sheldon et al. 2005). The PANAS consists of 10 mood states for positive affect (PA) (e.g.

attentive) and 10 for negative affect (NA) (e.g., hostile). Respondents were asked to rate

the extent to which they feel each mood in general on a 5-point scale from very slightly ornot all (1) to extremely (5).

PANAS is a well-known and commonly used instrument to assess happiness with good

internal consistency (e.g., Demir and Ozdemir 2010). The positive and negative affect

scales are related to other scales measuring different aspects of well-being (e.g., depres-

sion) in the expected directions (e.g., Lyubomirsky and Lepper 1999; Swami et al. 2009;

Watson et al. 1988). For example, it has been reported that global assessment of one’s


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happiness (e.g., Subjective Happiness Scale) is moderately and positively related to PA and

negatively associated with NA (e.g., Mattei and Schaefer 2004; Swami et al. 2009).

Composite positive and negative affect scores were computed by taking the mean of the

respective items. The internal consistencies of the scales in the present study were satis-

factory (PA: .88 for men and .85 for women, NA: .84 for men and .82 for women).

Following the theoretical arguments about the predominance of positive affect over neg-

ative affect in defining happiness (e.g., Diener 1984), an affect balance score was created

by subtracting the standardized negative affect composite scores from positive affect.

4 Results

Descriptive statistics and correlations for the study variables are reported in Table 1.

Analyses investigating gender differences on the study variables revealed that women,

compared to men, reported significantly higher levels of basic psychological needs satis-

faction (t(4,282) = -14.769, p \ .01; d = .50), perceived mattering (t(4,282) =

-19.451, p \ .01; d = .66), and capitalization scores (t(4,282) = -17.451, p \ .01;

d = .60). On the other hand, there were no significant differences between the sexes on PA

(t(4,282) = .347, p = .729), NA (t(4,282) = -.991, p = .322) and the composite happi-

ness score (t(4,282) = .869, p = .385). Also, as seen in the table, all of the study variables

were positively and significantly associated with happiness for both men and women to

varying degrees. Fisher’s z-tests revealed only one significant difference in the magnitude

of these associations across the sexes. The association of needs satisfaction with happiness

was significantly higher among men when compared to women (z = 7.29, p \ .01).

Overall, these findings generally support the hypotheses.

4.1 The Importance of Friendship Experiences in Happiness

In deciding the relative importance of one variable over the other we relied on the beta

weights and semi-partial correlations obtained from the regression analyses. The squared

form of the semi-partial correlation provides the percent of full variance uniquely

accounted for by the independent variable (e.g., mattering) in the dependent variable

(happiness) when other variables are controlled. It has been suggested that squared semi-

partial correlation is one of the most useful ways to assess the importance of an

Table 1 Means, standard deviations, and correlations of the study variables

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 M SD

Men Women Men Women

1. Needs satisfaction – .60 .47 .43 -.38 .52 5.61 6.04 .86 .82

2. Perceived mattering .59 – .43 .37 -.15 .33 3.96 4.36 .65 .58

3. Capitalization .51 .45 – .19 -.26 .29 -2.89 -.74 3.60 3.53

4. Positive affect .33 .32 .19 – -.21 .76 3.70 3.69 .64 .66

5. Negative affect -.32 -.18 -.26 -.20 – -.80 1.97 1.99 .70 .67

6. Happiness .42 .32 .29 .77 -.78 – 1.73 1.70 1.05 1.04

Correlations for men (n = 1,131) are reported above the diagonal, women (n = 3,154) below the diagonal.All of the correlations are significant at the .01 level


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independent variable (Tabachnick and Fidell 2001). Moreover, Baltes et al. (2004) showed

across several studies that traditional ways of assessing the importance of a given variable

(e.g., squared semi-partials) were perfectly in line with other relative importance indices

(e.g., dominance analysis). Yet, since the findings obtained from squared semi-partials

were perfectly in line with the beta weights, we only reported the latter in our analyses.

As seen in Table 1, the correlations between the friendship variables were as high as .60. In

the regressions reported below, we examined whether the moderate to high correlations

between the study variables raised any concerns for multicollinearity. The tolerance and var-

iance inflation factor (VIF) values obtained from the regressions revealed that multicollinearity

was not an issue (mean tolerance and VIF values across the predictors for men and women were

.64 each and 1.563 and 1.581, respectively; Menard 1995; Myers 1990).

Two regressions were computed to examine the relative importance of the study vari-

ables in happiness among men and women. In doing so, all of the friendship variables were

entered in the same step since we did not have any theoretical reasons to control for one

variable when investigating the effect(s) of the other(s) on happiness. Also, although it was

not a goal of the study and we did not have any theoretical reasons to expect any inter-

actions between the study variables, we entered the two- and three-way interactions (e.g.,

mattering*needs satisfaction; mattering* needs satisfaction* capitalization) in the second

step of these regressions. Since none of the interaction terms were significant, we did not

report them.

Results for men showed that the regression including the three friendship variables was

significant (F(3, 1127) = 141.625, p \ .001) and explained 27 % of the variance in

happiness. As seen in Table 2, only basic psychological needs emerged as a significant

predictor when study variables competed for variance. For women, the variables explained

19 % of the variance (F(3, 3150) = 246.661, p \ .001). All of the variables were sig-

nificant predictors of happiness, yet the beta values suggest that needs satisfaction was the

most important predictor. Next we wanted to examine whether the variables had differ-

ential predictive ability for men and women. For this purpose, we combined the data and

created interactive terms between gender and the study variables. We used a hierarchical

order of entry such that the study variables and sex were entered in the first step and the

interactions in the second step. The R-square increment was not significant and we did not

report it. This suggests that gender does not moderate the relationships of the friendship

variables with happiness.

For both men and women, satisfaction of basic psychological needs emerged as the

most important variable. This robust finding across the sexes necessitated additional

analyses. Specifically, as explained earlier, we stated that the role of individual psycho-

logical needs in predicting happiness would be examined only if the satisfaction of overall

basic psychological needs emerged as the strongest predictor of happiness. Accordingly,

Table 2 Regression analysis summary for variables predicting happiness

Variable Men Women

B SE b B SE b

Needs satisfaction .59 .04 .49* .41 .03 .33*

Perceived mattering .02 .05 .01 .17 .04 .09*

Capitalization .02 .01 .05 .02 .01 .08*

*p \ .001


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supplementary analyses were conducted to investigate the relative importance of the sat-

isfaction of individual needs in happiness.

First, we investigated the correlations between the three needs and happiness. As seen in

Table 3, all of the individual needs were positively associated with happiness among men

and women. Fisher’s z tests of the correlations revealed that the relationships of autonomy

and competence needs satisfaction with happiness were significantly higher among men

when compared to women (z = 6.73, p \ .01 and z = 8.41, p \ .01, respectively). Since

the correlations between the individual needs were as high as .71, we again relied on the

tolerance and VIF values to examine whether the associations between the variables raised

any concerns for the analyses. The findings revealed that that multicollinearity was not an

issue in the sample (mean tolerance and VIF values for the three needs for men and women

was .55 each and 1.911 and 1.800, respectively). Second, we conducted two regressions in

which all of the needs were entered in the same step when predicting happiness for men

and women. Among men, the regression was significant (F(3, 1127) = 156.396, p \ .001)

and accounted for 29 % of the variance in happiness. The regression among women was

also significant (F(3, 3150) = 241.760, p \ .001) and explained 19 % of the variance in

happiness. Although all of the individual needs were significant predictors of happiness for

both sexes (Table 4), beta values revealed that satisfaction of the competence need was the

most important need in predicting happiness.

4.2 Additional Analyses

As described above, the majority of the participants with a same-sex best friend in our

sample were European American (EA, 755 men, 1,771 women). Yet, our dataset also

contained a considerable number of minority participants (24 % Latino Americans (225

men, 802 women); and 5 % Asian Americans (53 men, 161 women). Although it was not a

goal of our study, we wanted to capitalize on this unique aspect of the dataset by inves-

tigating the predictive ability of the friendship variables in happiness in different ethnic

groups. However, since a main goal of the present investigation concerned gender dif-

ferences these initial exploratory analyses included EA and Latino American (LA) par-

ticipants to obtain accurate estimations of the study variables across the sexes (Tabachnick

and Fidell 2001). The initial analyses did not include Asian Americans because our sample

did not have enough men (n = 53) to accurately estimate the predictive value of the

variables (Tabachnick and Fidell 2001, p. 117).

A 2 9 2 MANOVA was conducted to examine gender (men or women) and ethnic

group differences (EA or LA) on the study variables. Findings revealed a significant main

Table 3 Means, standard deviations, and correlations for the needs satisfaction variables

Variables 1 2 3 4 M SD

Men Women Men Women

Autonomy – .71 .46 .45 5.95 8.27 .95 .87

Competence .64 – .52 .53 5.84 6.11 1.01 .93

Relatedness .57 .56 – .35 5.05 5.74 1.13 1.10

Happiness .35 .41 .32 – 1.73 1.70 1.05 1.04

Correlations for men (n = 1,131) are reported above the diagonal, women (n = 3,154) below the diagonal.All of the correlations are significant at the .001 level


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effect for gender (Wilks’ Lambda = .893, F(5, 3545) = 84.542, p \ .001, eta

squared = .11) and ethnic group (Wilks’ Lambda = .995, F(5, 3545) = 3.692, p \ .05,

eta squared = .01). The interaction between gender and ethnic group was also significant

(Wilks’ Lambda = .987, F(5, 3545) = 9.644, p \ .001, eta squared = .01). Follow-up

univariate analyses for the main effect of gender revealed that this effect was significant

only for the friendship variables (Needs Satisfaction: (F(1, 3552) = 238.152, p \ .001);

Perceived Mattering: (F(1, 3552) = 296.567, p \ .001) and Capitalization: (F(1,

3552) = 154.876, p \ .001), with women scoring higher than men. As for the main effect

of ethnic group, additional analyses revealed that the two groups only differed from each

other on NA (F(1, 3552) = 11.240, p \ .001), with LAs reporting higher levels of NA

(M = 2.06, SD = .74) than EAs (M = 1.95, SD = .67).

The follow-up investigation of the interaction between gender and ethnic group revealed

that only the interactions for needs satisfaction (F(1, 3552) = 22.589, p \ .001) and

positive affect (F(1, 3552) = 8.430, p \ .05) were significant. Simple effects tests dem-

onstrated an ethnicity effect among men (F(1, 978) = 12.178, p \ .01), with EAs

reporting higher levels of needs satisfaction in their friendships than LAs (M = 5.59,

SD = .85 vs. M = 5.36, SD = .91). This effect was also significant among women (F(1,

2571) = 11.382, p \ .01, and revealed that LAs had higher needs satisfaction scores in

their friendships when compared to EAs (M = 6.10, SD = .80; M = 5.98, SD = .85). A

gender effect among EAs (F(1, 2524) = 112.723, p \ .01) showed that EA women had

higher needs satisfaction scores than men (M = 5.98, SD = .85; M = 5.59, SD = .85).

Similarly, the gender effect among LAs (F(1, 1025) = 140.857, p \ .01) found higher

levels among women than men (M = 6.10, SD = .80; M = 5.36, SD = .91). As for

positive affect, analyses revealed an ethnicity effect among women (F(1, 2571) = 5.642,

p \ .05). LA women (M = 3.68, SD = .67) reported more PA than EA women

(M = 3.61, SD = .68). This effect among was significant among men as well (F(1,

978) = 4.121, p \ .05), with EA men (M = 3.68, SD = .64) reporting more PA than LA

men (M = 3.58, SD = .73). Finally, a gender effect was observed among EAs (F(1,

2524) = 4.876, p \ .05) and LAs (F(1, 1025) = 4.226, p \ .05). Results showed that EA

men (M = 3.68, SD = .64) and LA Women (M = 3.69, SD = .67) had higher levels of

PA when compared to EA women (M = 3.61, SD = .68) and LA men (M = 3.58,

SD = .73), respectively.

Next, the associations of perceived mattering, capitalization, and needs satisfaction with

happiness across gender among the two ethnic groups were examined. All of the study

variables were positively associated with happiness (p \ .01) in both sexes in both groups

(EA men and women: .33 .29, .56 vs. 32, .28, .42, respectively; LA men and women: .40,

.26, .57 vs. .36, .29, .47, respectively). Investigation of the magnitude of these associations

Table 4 Regression analysis summary for needs satisfaction variables

Variable Men Women

B SE b B SE b

Autonomy .14 .04 .13** .14 .03 .11**

Competence .32 .04 .39** .31 .03 .28**

Relatedness .08 .03 .09* .09 .02 .10**

* p \ .01, **p \ .001


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across the groups revealed that the association of needs satisfaction with happiness was

significantly higher among men when compared to women only among the EAs (z = 4.25,

p \ .01); among EA men in comparison to LA women (z = 2.42, p \ .01); and among LA

men when compared to EA women (z = 2.81, p \ .01).

The regression analyses investigating the predictive ability of the friendship variables in

happiness among men and women across the two ethnic groups revealed that the model

accounted for as high as 33 % of the variance in happiness across the groups (EA men:

(F(3, 751) = 113.490, p \ .01, R2 = .31; EA women: (F(3, 1767) = 136.000, p \ .01,

R2 = .19; LA men: (F(3, 221) = 36.763, p \ .01, R2 = .33; LA women: (F(3,

798) = 77.653, p \ .01, R2 = .23). Among men in both ethnic groups, and among LA

women, needs satisfaction was the only significant predictor of happiness (EAs: b = .55,

p \ .01; LAs: b = .51, p \ .01; LA women: b = .38, p \ .01). Among EA women, all of

the study variables were significant predictors of happiness (Mattering: b = .08, p \ .01;

Capitalization: b = .07, p \ .05; and Needs satisfaction: b = .33, p \ .01). Yet, the beta

values suggest that needs satisfaction was the most important predictor of happiness among

EA women.

Since needs satisfaction emerged as the most important friendship variable in predicting

happiness among men and women in both ethnic groups, we next examined the relative

importance of the satisfaction of individual needs in happiness. The autonomy, competence

and relatedness needs satisfaction were all significantly and positively related to happiness

(p \ .01) across the sexes in the ethnic groups (EA men and women: .49, .58, .36 vs. 32,

.42, .32, respectively; LA men and women: .51, .57, .36 vs. .38, .44, .39, respectively). In

both ethnic groups, the relationships of the autonomy and competence needs satisfaction

with happiness were significantly higher among men when compared to women (EA:

z = 4.70, p \ .01, LA: z = 2.14, p \ .01), and EA: z = 4.93, p \ .01, LA: z = 2.31,

p \ .01, respectively). Also, the autonomy-happiness and competence-happiness associa-

tions among men in EAs were significantly different from the associations observed among

women in LAs (z = 2.68, p \ .01, and z = 3.74, p \ .01); and the respective correlations

among LA men were significantly higher when compared to the correlations among EA

women (z = 3.25, p \ .01, and z = 2.81, p \ .01).

The results of the regression analyses investigating the roles of the three individual

needs in happiness revealed significant findings across the groups, with the amount of

variance explained in happiness ranging from 19 to 35 % (EA men: (F(3, 751) = 134.746,

p \ .01, R2 = .35; EA women: (F(3, 1767) = 139.567, p \ .01, R2 = .19; LA men: (F(3,

221) = 39.027, p \ .01, R2 = .35; LA women: (F(3, 798) = 75.980, p \ .01, R2 = .22).

Among men in both ethnic groups, competence need satisfaction was the only significant

predictor of happiness (EAs: b = .45, p \ .01; LA Men: b = .40, p \ .01). Among

women, all of the individual variables were significant in both groups (EAs: Autonomy:

b = .06, p \ .05; Competence: b = .33, p \ .001; and Relatedness: b = .10, p \ .01;

LA: Autonomy: b = .10, p \ .05; Competence: b = .27, p \ .001; and Relatedness:

b = .18, p \ .01). However, investigation of the beta values suggests that competence

need was the most important predictor of happiness among women in both ethnic groups.

Overall, these results suggest that the findings obtained in the entire sample are general-

izable to both sexes among EAs and LAs.

As explained above, our sample not having enough Asian American men prevented us

from making meaningful comparison with the other two groups and reliably estimating the

predictive ability of the variables. Thus, in this ethnic group, the correlational and

regression analyses were conducted in the entire sample (n = 214), which is sufficient for

reliable analyses (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2001). All of the friendship variables were


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positively associated with happiness (p \ .01) among Asian Americans (Mattering:

r = .27, Capitalization: r = .32, Needs Satisfaction: r = .35). The friendship variables,

controlling for gender, explained 19 % of the variance in happiness (F(4, 209) = 12.387,

p \ .01). Consistent with the findings obtained in the total sample for men and women,

needs satisfaction was the most important predictor (Mattering: b = .09, p = 2.32; Cap-

italization: b = .17, p \ .05; and Needs satisfaction: b = .21, p \ .01). The regression

investigating the relative importance of individual needs, when controlling for gender,

explained 14 % of the variance (F(4, 209) = 8.507, p \ .01) in happiness and revealed

that competence need satisfaction was the only significant predictor (Autonomy: b = .10,

p = .243; Competence: b = .22, p \ .01; and Relatedness: b = .11, p = .186). Overall,

these results suggest that the patterns obtained in the total sample and among EAs and LAs

are generalizable to Asian Americans as well.

5 Discussion

The present investigation examined the roles of three friendship experiences and feelings

in individual happiness in a large sample of college students. There are three major

conclusions that can be drawn from the findings. First, perceived mattering, capitalization

and needs satisfaction are significantly related to happiness and needs satisfaction is the

most important relationship experience when the friendship variables compete for vari-

ance. Second, of the three basic psychological needs, satisfaction of the competence need

is the strongest predictor of happiness. Third, the relationships of the friendship variables

with happiness are generally invariant across the two sexes. These three conclusions and

their implications for research on friendship and happiness are discussed in detail.

Decades of empirical research have consistently shown positive associations between

friendship and happiness. However, as explained earlier, the available studies over-

whelmingly focused on friendship quantity and friendship quality (e.g., intimacy). As a

result, less is known about the associations of friendship specific feelings and experiences

with happiness. The present study addressed this issue and investigated three relationship

specific experiences. The findings showed that, for both men and women, receiving

positive responses from a same-sex best friend upon sharing positive events, feeling that

one matters to the friend, and satisfaction of basic psychological needs in the friendship

were related to happiness to varying degrees. These findings are consistent with the few

studies that examined these constructs individually (Deci et al. 2006; Dixon Rayle and

Chung 2007; Demir et al. 2011). All in all, these findings suggest that in addition to

number of friends and friendship quality, there are other aspects to friendship that has the

potential to influence one’s happiness.

Investigation of the three friendship variables simultaneously provided an opportunity

to examine their relative contributions to happiness. Findings showed that, for both men

and women, satisfaction of basic psychological needs was as the strongest predictor of

happiness when all three variables competed for variance. This does not mean that capi-

talization or feelings of mattering are not important for happiness. Rather, the findings

should be interpreted as suggesting that the fulfillment of basic needs is the most influential

variable in predicting one’s happiness. Also, we believe that this finding should be

interpreted with caution since this is the first empirical study comparing these different

relationship experiences. As reviewed earlier, past research frequently compared the roles

friendship quantity and quality in happiness. This line of research produced a well-

accepted finding that friendship quality is more important than quantity in predicting


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happiness (Demir et al., in press). Thus, more research is needed to establish confidence in

the present findings. Nevertheless, it is still critical to understand why the satisfaction of

basic needs emerged as the strongest predictor of happiness in this study.

Friendship is a universal relationship which promotes and creates a context for a variety

of different feelings (mattering) and experiences (capitalization). Although individuals in

all cultures share positive things with each other (e.g., Cohen 1961; Goodwin 1999) and

develop a sense of mattering in their friendships as a function of their interactions (e.g.,

Demir et al. 2011, Hays 1985), theory does not consider these two friendship experiences

to be fundamental in the lives of individuals. Theoretical arguments, however, suggest that

these two friendships variables (capitalization and mattering) play critical roles in the

maintenance of relationships (e.g., promoting closeness) and have the potential to con-

tribute to one’s psychological well-being (Marshall 2001; Gable and Reis 2010). On the

other hand, basic psychological needs (e.g., competence) are proposed to be fundamental

and innate human needs; satisfaction of which in life in general or in close relationships

(e.g., friendships) has been posited to promote psychological well-being (e.g., Deci and

Ryan 2000). Empirical research has supported the theory even when needs were assessed

in different contexts and relationships with various methods (correlational, experimental,

and longitudinal) (e.g., Sheldon et al. 1996; Reis et al. 2000; Deci et al. 2006). Accord-

ingly, it should not be surprising that the satisfaction of innate and basic needs in same-sex

best friendships were the strongest predictor of happiness when compared to other uni-

versal but not innate or fundamental friendship experiences.

The finding that basic psychological needs are the strongest predictor of happiness

inevitably raises one additional theoretical question: which of the three needs (autonomy,

competence, and relatedness) is the strongest predictor of happiness? Findings revealed

that satisfaction of competence needs was the most important one predicting happiness for

both men and women. Before providing an explanation to account for this finding, two

issues should be addressed. First, it might be argued that since the three needs tend to be

highly correlated with each other, it is difficult and redundant to search for the most

important need predicting happiness. Although this argument has merit, it is essential to

highlight that the moderate to high correlations of the three needs did not raise any

concerns for multicollinearity (please see above). Second, it could be argued that just

because the analyses (e.g., beta values) suggest one need is more important than the other,

it does not necessarily mean that its role in happiness is significantly larger than the others.

Even though this is a fair point, it is important to consider the fact that several studies

investigating psychological needs in general or in different relationships first show the

importance of overall needs satisfaction with regards to the outcome investigated in that

study, and then examine the most important individual need predicting that outcome. Deci

and Ryan (2000) posit that all of these needs must be satisfied to experience optimal well-

being. Yet, we believe that it is also essential to examine and understand whether the

fulfillment of these three needs appear to be ‘differentially critical’ in predicting different

outcomes.

In explaining why competence needs satisfaction was the most important need in

predicting happiness, we first review the findings of past research and then provide our

arguments in light of theory. To start with, when researchers assess needs satisfaction in

close relationships and predict relationship outcomes (e.g., attachment security, relation-

ship quality, relationship satisfaction), relatedness emerges as the most important predictor

(Demir et al. 2012; La Guardia et al. 2000; Patrick et al. 2007). Perhaps this is not

surprising considering conceptual overlap between relatedness and relationship experi-

ences. Accordingly, when researchers only focus on autonomy and competence needs, the


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former appears to be the next most important need (Demir et al. 2012; La Guardia et al.

2000). SDT might explain this pattern (relatedness [ autonomy [ competence) obtained

when investigating relationship outcomes by suggesting that competence needs are likely

to be fulfilled in different contexts, such as work or school (Deci and Ryan 2000; La

Guardia and Patrick 2008). On the other hand, when researchers measure needs satisfaction

in everyday life or with regards to the most satisfying event and predict psychological well-

being outcomes, either competence or autonomy, or both, emerge as the most important

one(s) (Reis et al. 2000; Sheldon et al. 2001; Sheldon and Filak 2008; Sheldon and Tan

2007; Sheldon and Niemiec 2006; Sheldon et al. 1996). Relevant to the findings of the

present study, Reis et al. (2000) and Sheldon and Tan (2007) showed that of the three needs

competence satisfaction was the strongest predictor of happiness. The available literature

suggests that the type of outcome investigated (happiness vs. attachment security) and the

context of the assessment of needs (close relationship vs. daily life) influences which

individual need emerges as the strongest predictor. Accordingly, the findings of the present

study adds to this line of empirical research by showing that when needs are assessed in

same-sex friendships with regard to happiness, competence needs satisfaction is the

strongest predictor of the three needs.

Why did competence but not the other two needs emerge as the strongest predictor of

happiness among men and women? Feeling competent in one’s actions and abilities in life

in general and in close relationships has been proposed to be a fundamental need which has

important implications for psychosocial well-being (Bandura 1977; Deci and Ryan 2000;

Elliot et al. 2002; White 1963, 1965). Satisfying this need in friendships might be espe-

cially critical in a new and challenging environment. It is essential at this point to highlight

that the majority of the participants in this study were 18-years old who were fresh out of

high school and trying to adjust to college. Empirical research suggests that the transition

from high school to university is a stressful experience (Buote et al. 2007; Devlin 1996;

Friedlander et al. 2007; Pittman and Richmond 2008). Young college students might feel

intimidated and stressed out by the demands and challenges of their new environment. In

this particular situation, they might want to show their newly learned skills and abilities to

their friends and might need their friends to validate that they are good at what they do.

Even though they might have proven themselves and experienced high levels of compe-

tence in their friendships in high school, the unique and new environment might make

competence need salient in their friendships and collegiate pursuits.

Although this argument is reasonable, it raises an essential theoretical question. Would

competence be still the most important need had we sampled juniors or seniors or adults in

different age groups? Elliot et al. (2002) argued that overall psychological maturation and

past experiences shape the level of the need for competence. Accordingly, it is plausible to

argue that different needs (e.g., autonomy) in the friendship might be salient for individual

happiness across the life-span (e.g., transition to parenthood). At this point it is critical to

highlight Erikson’s theory (1982) suggesting that individuals have a specific develop-

mental task to resolve in different stages of life. For instance, during middle adulthood

individuals are concerned with making a significant contribution to their world and family

members and colleagues at work become the focal relationships. In this unique situation,

perhaps relatedness need in friendships might become the strongest predictor of happiness

since competence and autonomy needs are likely to be salient in other relationships. Future

research has the potential to shed light on this issue.

The present investigation also contributed to the literature by showing that friendship

experiences are similarly related to the happiness of men and women. Past empirical

research (e.g., Walen and Lachman 2000) and recent theoretical arguments (Saphire-


123

Bernstein and Taylor, in press) suggest that since women experience better friendships

(e.g., more intimacy) they benefit more from their relationship experiences. Although the

friendship experiences of women were significantly higher when compared to men (with

moderate effect sizes), these differences were not reflected in the associations of friendship

variables with happiness. Instead, the relationships of friendship experiences with happi-

ness were generally similar in both sexes, a finding consistent with past empirical research

(e.g., Demir and Orthel 2011). The only exception to this pattern was the significantly

higher correlation between overall need satisfaction and happiness among men when

compared to women. Also, additional analyses showed that gender did not moderate the

friendship-happiness link, suggesting that the variables did not have differential predictive

ability for men and women. The results of this study suggest that experiencing friendships

rather strongly does not necessarily equate more happiness for women. This argument

should be interpreted with caution considering the possibility that the results could have

been different had we examined other well-being indices (e.g., depressed mood). It could

be that gender differences in the relationship quality and well-being link is observed when

the focus is on dating and marital relationships (e.g., Pinquart and Sorensen 2000; Proulx

et al. 2007). However, when the focus is on friendship, both men and women benefit

equally from their friendships experiences.

Additional analyses conducted among European- and Latino-American men and women

and among Asian American participants replicated the results obtained in the general

sample. This suggests that the findings discussed above are generalizable to these ethnic

groups. Overall, these findings are consistent with past research. Although some studies

have documented ethnic differences in friendship experiences (DuBois and Hirsch 1990;

Kao and Joyner 2004; Way and Chen 2000; Way et al. 2001), others found that friendships

were similarly experienced in different ethnic groups (Azmitia et al. 2006, Levitt et al.

1993; Pagano and Hirsch 2007). Our findings were consistent with this recent research such

that the two ethnic groups did not differ from each other on the friendship variables. The

results were also in line with past empirical studies showing that friendship is similarly

associated with psychological well-being in different ethnic groups (Franco and Levitt

1998; Way and Robinson 2003). Yet, it is important to highlight that our additional

analyses included only three ethnic groups. It remains to be seen whether these findings can

be generalized to the friendship experiences of other ethnic groups (e.g., Native

Americans).

6 Limitations

It is essential to acknowledge the limitations of the study. To start with, the present

investigation was cross-sectional in nature which makes causal inferences a concern.

Consistent with theoretical arguments (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000), we treated the friendship

variables as predictor of happiness. However, it is essential to consider the possibility that

being happy promotes positive friendships. Another limitation of the current investigation

pertains to the fact that the findings are limited to the same-sex best friendships of college

students and cannot be generalized to opposite-sex friendships and to same-sex best

friendships in different age groups. Considering the empirical evidence showing that both

types of friendships are positively associated with happiness in different age groups (Chan

and Lee 2006; Collins and van Dulmen 2006; Pinquart and Sorensen 2000), we would

predict that similar patterns of associations between the study variables and happiness be

observed. Yet, it remains to be seen whether overall needs satisfaction (and competence)


123

would emerge as the friendship variable that matters most for happiness across the types of

friendships in different age groups. One inevitable limitation of research on happiness

conducted with American samples pertains to the generalizability of the findings to other

cultures. Indeed, this is a major concern in the psychological literature (e.g., Arnett 2008;

Henrich et al. 2010). This becomes especially relevant when one considers the empirical

research documenting cross-cultural differences in friendship (Adams and Plaut 2003;

French et al. 2006). We believe that it is imperative to investigate the generalizability of

any given finding or theoretical model to other cultural contexts to establish confidence in

the findings obtained in the individualistic cultural context of the U.S. (e.g., Sheldon and

Tan 2007). Accordingly, future research should investigate whether the findings obtained

in this study are generalizable to the friendship experiences of individuals in collectivistic

cultures.

7 Conclusion

These data reinforced the idea that there is more to friendship that has implications for

happiness other than the number of friends or overall friendship quality. The three

friendship variables investigated in this study explained one-fifth of the variance in hap-

piness. The data provide unique ways to understand why friendship experiences do matter

for happiness. The data also indicate that the associations of friendship experiences with

happiness are gender invariant.

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