Transformative power of friendships: Examining the relationships among friendship quality, self‐change, and well‐being

Abstract

Friendships are beneficial to a person's growth and well‐being. People in close relationships may experience four types of self‐change: self‐expansion, self‐pruning, self‐contraction, and self‐adulteration. The current cross‐sectional research sought to investigate whether these relational self‐change processes explain the links between friendship quality and well‐being in same‐sex best friendships. Study 1A (N = 187) adapted the Turkish Relational Self‐Change Scale to the friendship context and confirmed its psychometric adequacy in addressing friendship‐based self‐changes in Türkiye. Study 1B (N = 306) examined the links between different friendship functions and relational self‐changes, as well as whether relational self‐changes explain the link between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Among the specific friendship functions, stimulating companionship and self‐validation were related to self‐expansion and self‐pruning, whereas reliable alliance was related to self‐contraction and self‐adulteration. Self‐adulteration also indirectly explained the relationship between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Study 2 (N = 204) revealed that only self‐pruning explained the link between perceived friend responsiveness and overall well‐being. The contributions of friendships to self‐change and personal well‐being were discussed in light of the findings.