Close friendship and its relationship with self-esteem, anxiety and life satisfaction

Abstract

The present study aims to study the relationship of friendship with self esteem, anxiety and life satisfaction among University students. The three hypotheses formulated were, 1) person more close to his/ her friend/s would have high self-esteem as compared to person, who is not or less close to his / her friend/s; 2) person more close to his/ her friends /s would have less anxiety as compared to the person, who is not or less close to his / her friend/s; 3) person more close to his / her friends/s would be more satisfied with life as compared to a person, who is not or less close to his/ her friend/s. A cross sectional study design was selected to provide a snap shot for public under standing of how close friendships can enhance self esteem and life satisfaction, whereas reducing anxiety. A sample of 100 University students from various universities of Karachi was selected randomly to assess the hypotheses. Sample included both males and females and their age range was 20 – 28 years. In order to test the hypothesis the Culture free self esteem inventory (CFSEI-2), Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons et al., 1985); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983) and Relationship Rating Form (RRF; Davis, 2001) to screen close friend ship, were administered along with a demographic sheet included basic information of the participant. For statistical analysis the correlation and t- test was calculated. Strong positive relations were found between