Developing and Maintaining Friendships. CTP BLOG 2-Mariella Godinez-Munoz

After reading chapter 9, the type of Interpersonal Communication Theory that I feel connected the most is Developing and Maintaining Friendships.

I also learned the six step of Developing and Maintaining Friendships:

The first step in building friendships occurs through Role-Limited Interaction. In this step, we interact with others based on our social roles. The second step in developing friendships is called Friendly Relations. The third step in developing friendships is called Moving Toward Friendship. The fourth step in developing friendships is called Nascent Friendship. In this stage individuals commit to spending more time together. The fifth step in developing friendships is Stabilized Friendship. In this stage, friends take each other for grantedas friends, but not in a negative way and the final step in friendship development is Waning Friendship. As you know, friendships do not always have   ending. Many friendships come to an end.

 

I’m a very social and friendly person, I love to make new friends. I have a few “close friends” that mean:  We are can talk about anything, we can open our heart and be open about our feelings.  As well we are respectful about our personal space. They are my friends because “they are interpersonal relationships of choice”. We have experience great joy, adventure, and learning through our connection and interactions. My close friends and I don’t have to see each other’s every day or go out to party to maintain  our friendship, we are connected to a Hello, How are you? Also we support each other when we need emotional support, and listen to each other’s.

 I agree with the quote “one way we meet our need for connection is through our friendships.” Developing a close friendship can be can be challenging.  I have also lose some friends because we have had misunderstanding or because we lose communication, or because they only want to take advantage of the friendship or relationship.  Some friendship go thru an end and there is nothing we can do about it to save it.  My friendship with my best friend Pepe have overcome many obstacles, we are not perfect friends, sometimes we do not agree to all we do, but we have good communication and we fix our problems when there is a misunderstanding. True friends support one another even when they are mad or sad.

“Friendship means different things to different people depending on age, gender, and cultural background. Common among all friendships is the fact that they are interpersonal relationships of choice.”

I totally agree with this, because I have meet some of my close friends while working and networking, because I’m very involve with the community and social events. We all have different cultural backgrounds, and we have learned a lot from it.  

I have friends that I meet about 20years ago, and every time we see each other’s we recall those memories and we are strong about our friendship. Something That I have learn is that we have to be open to make new friends and also we have to be ready to lose others. Overall there is no perfect recipe to happiness, the key is communication, support to each other and be there if your friend needs you.