Mgt 311 Week 2 Individual Reflection Paper

Reflection Paper 4
1. Which of the tensions identified and described do you find the most interesting and why?
The dialectics of affection and instrumentality was one of the tensions that stood out to me. Silverton discussed a tension created by seeing a friend as “an end” or a “means to another end” (Silverton, 2003, p. 6). I found it interesting that this is considered a tension within a friendship. I have witnessed many friendships that have been formed where one person values the friendship for the instrumentality of the person and where the other person values the friendship for the affection of the person, but I never really thought of how it would create tension within the friendship. I always viewed this type of friendship as one that isn’t necessarily genuine, especially in cases where both parties are in the friendship for the instrumentality of the other person. I would consider this as a partnership or an agreement as oppose to an actual friendship.

6). However, I do think it is acceptable to ask a friend for a favor or appreciate them for the things they can do within the friendship, but I do not think those aspects should be the basis of the friendship. Today many people, especially in the business world, create friendships with individuals for the opportunities they can provide for them and the things they can give them. The tension created by friendships where one party seeks affection and the other instrumentality is interesting to me, because if one friend is in the friendship because they genuinely care about the person but the other person is in it for the instrumentality of the friendship, there can be a great amount of tension and