Characteristics Of Close Relationships

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English actress Francesca Annis said, “However successful you are, there is no substitute for a close relationship. We all need them.” Close relationships are vital to the well-being of all humans and include friendships and romantic relationships (Miller, 2015). According to Intimate Relationships, the difference between casual relationships and intimate, or close, relationships are evident in seven specific ways: knowledge, interdependence, caring, trust, responsiveness, mutuality, and commitment. Although all seven of these components are not needed for an intimate relationship, the more qualities a relationship has, the stronger and longer the relationship will last (Miller, 2015). Several of these characteristics are present in my relationship …show more content…

This means more than a casual knowledge of what a person likes to do or what their favorite color is. It means sharing stories, feelings, and desires with their partner that they would not normally share with a casual friend. As Hailey and I became better friends, we would talk to each other often. Most of the time what we talked about was not personal or of significant importance in our lives. In general, we would discuss the surface level of our lives, never delving into deep or sensitive topics. However, on long, late bus rides home, we would sometimes find ourselves discussing more personal and delicate topics. These conversations never continued into the day. During these times, we learned more about each other and got to know each other on a deeper level. Compared to most intimate relationships, we have an intermediate knowledge of each …show more content…

Interdependency in a friendship is the amount of influence each friend has on the other and the amount of need they have for each other. This is measured by the frequency, strength, diversity, and endurance the relationship has (Miller, 2015). Hailey and I are independent people and do not rely heavily on each other. We talk and spend time together, but the need for each other is not strong. We both depend on our families greatly and therefore, never needed to depend on each other for the tough times in life. Mutuality is the amount the partnership views their partnership as “us” or “me” (Miller, 2015). There is often high mutuality in romantic relationships. In mine and Hailey’s relationship we have a low mutuality. In high school if we decided to hangout, we included each other in our plans. We played volleyball together our freshman and sophomore year. Instead of continuing to play, we decided together to run cross country. Although we are best friends and included each other in several decisions in high school, I am attending college here in Arizona and she is moving to Idaho. As we’ve grown older, our mutuality has

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