Cross Group Friendship Essay

There is a popular saying, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” This saying suggests that a person who lends you a hand when you are having a difficult time is a true and trustworthy friend. This saying emphasizes on the helping reciprocity of a friendship. People who are friends usually have the mutual goal or interest, and they tend to exchange resources and help in order to obtain mutual benefits. In this perspective, we can assume that the saying is true in a way that it proposes one of the indicators of a true friendship. But what if when we are not having any difficulties in our life? How can we determine if a person is our friend indeed? Other than getting helps when needed, what are the benefits of having a friendship indeed?

In class, Professor Parker discussed that people who have contacts with people from various cultures tend to be more open-minded and less discriminating (Williams & Johnson, 2011). And I agree with it. There are different theories explaining how cross-group friendships play a role in enhancing the openness of people’s minds and in reducing discriminations. The first theory that Professor Parker mentioned in class is the self-expansion theory. It suggests that people have the motivation to expand their knowledge, and they can achieve this self-expansion by having moderate to close friendships with other people (Seger, Smith, Percy, & Conrey, 2014). I like to learn new things and always want to know more about people from different cultures. That is one of the reasons why I really enjoy hanging out with Beth. Even though Beth was born in the United States, her parents were from Nigeria, and she had been there before. So she knows a lot of Nigeria as well as the United States, and she loves to share with me. It increases my knowledge of African American, and gives me the sense of closeness towards them. The second theory is positive experiences, indicating that sharing with people from other groups to gradually realize that there are a lot of similarities between these groups (Seger, Smith, Percy, & Conrey, 2014), and thus it reduces discrimination. Since I had positive experiences with Beth, most of time I assume that

Friendships can bring us more happiness. We are easily affected by people around us, especially those who are close to us. When our friends are happy and energetic, we will feel happy and energetic as well. We can have fun meeting new friends via the introduction of my current friend, or the friends of my friends (Fowler & Christakis, 2009). Beth introduced me to her friends and so did I. We had a lot of fun hanging out with different groups of people. Friendships bring us happiness in three major ways: believing that we matter, capitalization, and meeting our psychological needs (Demir & Davidson, 2013). A good friendship may make us feel that we matter, and that there is someone who listen to and care us. Beth likes to listen to my opinions. She is very interested in Chinese culture. She always asks me questions about China, and she tries to learn how to use chopsticks from me. She makes me feel that my country is valued a lot to her, and my opinion is very important as well. This did make me happier and more confident. Capitalization is the increase in happiness due to positive events (Demir & Davidson, 2013). Having fun and exploring the world together with Beth is considered to be positive events to me. I am always eager to take adventures and go travelling, so does Beth. So whenever we have time, we will go on a trip together, which I like a lot. A Good friendship is always important to have our psychological