Abstract
Although it is well established that friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, less is known about how friendship experiences might promote happiness. The current investigation addressed this gap by testing a mediational model proposing that perceived mattering explains the association of friendship quality with happiness among college students in Turkey and the United States. An alternative model suggesting friendship quality as the mediator was also tested to enhance confidence in the proposed model. SEM analyses revealed that perceived mattering mediated the association of friendship with happiness only in the American sample. In the Turkish sample, friendship quality mediated the association between mattering and happiness. Findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural research and suggest that the underlying processes and psychological mechanisms related to the friendship-happiness link might be different in different cultures.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 659-664 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Social Psychology |
| Volume | 152 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2012 |
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Keywords
- cross-cultural studies
- friendship
- happiness
- perceived mattering
- Turkey
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
Cite this
Friendship, perceived mattering and happiness : A study of American and Turkish college students. / Demir, Meliksah; Özen, Ayça; Doǧan, Aysun.
In: Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 152, No. 5, 01.09.2012, p. 659-664.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Friendship, perceived mattering and happiness
T2 - A study of American and Turkish college students
AU - Demir, Meliksah
AU - Özen, Ayça
AU - Doǧan, Aysun
PY - 2012/9/1
Y1 - 2012/9/1
N2 - Although it is well established that friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, less is known about how friendship experiences might promote happiness. The current investigation addressed this gap by testing a mediational model proposing that perceived mattering explains the association of friendship quality with happiness among college students in Turkey and the United States. An alternative model suggesting friendship quality as the mediator was also tested to enhance confidence in the proposed model. SEM analyses revealed that perceived mattering mediated the association of friendship with happiness only in the American sample. In the Turkish sample, friendship quality mediated the association between mattering and happiness. Findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural research and suggest that the underlying processes and psychological mechanisms related to the friendship-happiness link might be different in different cultures.
AB - Although it is well established that friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, less is known about how friendship experiences might promote happiness. The current investigation addressed this gap by testing a mediational model proposing that perceived mattering explains the association of friendship quality with happiness among college students in Turkey and the United States. An alternative model suggesting friendship quality as the mediator was also tested to enhance confidence in the proposed model. SEM analyses revealed that perceived mattering mediated the association of friendship with happiness only in the American sample. In the Turkish sample, friendship quality mediated the association between mattering and happiness. Findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural research and suggest that the underlying processes and psychological mechanisms related to the friendship-happiness link might be different in different cultures.
KW - cross-cultural studies
KW - friendship
KW - happiness
KW - perceived mattering
KW - Turkey
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U2 - 10.1080/00224545.2011.650237
DO - 10.1080/00224545.2011.650237
M3 - Article
VL - 152
SP - 659
EP - 664
JO - Journal of Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Social Psychology
SN - 0022-4545
IS - 5
ER -