| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺南大學 === 諮商與輔導學系碩士班 === 99 === The present study aims to investigate maintaining and changing of social freshmen’s friendships from school days.
The study sought to find out 1) what changes could occur to friendships from school days when students enter into society, 2) in what aspects did such changes affect social freshmen, 3) how social freshmen coped with the changes, and 4) what the changes mean for social freshmen and what can they learn from such experiences.
The study adopted narrative research and gathered materials by conducting in-depth interviews. Four social freshmen, who maintained contact with friends from school days and with work experiences of one to three years, were invited to participate in the interviews. Each participant was interviewed for two to three times depending on their depth of related experiences. Each interview was three to four hours in length.
The findings are as follows:
1. The major conducive factor for satisfactory friendships among students was “favorable conditions” that helped establish friendships. Students’ “personal traits”, “the willingness to cater to friends’ interests” and “the habit of keeping in touch with friends” were the other helping factors. Individuals could draw support and help from good friends made at school, thereby solving problems encountered in life. Students could also improve self-understanding through interactions with others.
2. The study found that “time and location differences”, “new focus in life” and “personal development” were the major factors that affect student friendships kept beyond school phase. Development of friendships after students enter into society depended on individuals’ strategies to cope with changes. The primary deciding factor for friendship development was the existence, or the lack thereof, of continued good interactions.
3. The major difference between friendships at school and friendships at workplace was that the latter involved more personal interests, which could complicate interpersonal relationships. Also, friendships at workplace aroused more frequently from occupational needs. By contrast, student friends not only gave each other support but also had more genuine, heartfelt exchanges .
4. Participants’ reflections on student friendships that were maintained after graduation can be categorized into three aspects, namely, “self”, “friend”, and “friendship”. “Self” refers to the initiative taken by oneself to contact friends and meet them in person, which was considered the best way to keep in touch. However, such contact should only be arranged on a voluntary basis. The “friend” category refers to respecting friends’ current life style, which may change after leaving school. One should not have expectations too high for friends. Enough flexibility should be allowed for both oneself and the people he/she interacts with. Lastly, interest entanglement is to be avoided. One should also realize that not all people can be bosom friends and that some can only be nodding acquaintances, as stubborn attempts to establish intimate friendships, if proved unsuccessful, could lead to complete severance of ties.
Based on the aforementioned research findings, the researcher put forth concrete suggestions for students, social freshmen, counselors and future researchers.
Keywords: social freshmen, friendships from school days, friendships, maintaining of friendships, friendship changes
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