Friendfluence, Carlin Flora
Friendfluence, Carlin Flora
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Friendfluence
The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are

Author: Carlin Flora

Narrator: Karen Saltus

Unabridged: 7 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 01/29/2013


Synopsis

Discover the unexpected ways friends influence our personalities, choices, emotions, and even physical health in this fun and compelling examination of friendship, based on the latest scientific research and ever-relatable anecdotes.

Why is dinner with friends often more laughter filled and less fraught than a meal with family? Although some say it’s because we choose our friends, it’s also because we expect less of them than we do of relatives. While we’re busy scrutinizing our romantic relationships and family dramas, our friends are quietly but strongly influencing everything from the articles we read to our weight fluctuations, from our sex lives to our overall happiness levels.

Evolutionary psychologists have long theorized that friendship has roots in our early dependence on others for survival. These days, we still cherish friends but tend to undervalue their role in our lives. However, the skills one needs to make good friends are among the very skills that lead to success in life, and scientific research has recently exploded with insights about the meaningful and enduring ways friendships influence us. With people marrying later—and often not at all—and more families having just one child, these relationships may be gaining in importance. The evidence even suggests that at times friends have a greater hand in our development and well-being than do our romantic partners and relatives.

Friendfluence surveys online-only pals, friend breakups, the power of social networks, envy, peer pressure, the dark side of amicable ties, and many other varieties of friendship. Told with warmth, scientific rigor, and a dash of humor, Friendfluence not only illuminates and interprets the science but draws on clinical psychology and philosophy to help listeners evaluate and navigate their own important friendships.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kater

Since I haven't read other books (that I can remember) specifically dealing with friends and friendship before, I expected this book to really blow me away. Friends are a huge influence in our lives, almost as great as families, and greater for certain age groups. Best things about this book are tha......more

I was recently asked to name a few friends, and my first reaction was: “I don’t have friends!” I might have been joking, but only a little. As much as I liked living in Japan, I went through some serious bouts of “do I have any friends here?” (to be fair, I had those bouts through my school years in S......more

We moved a lot (for no good reason!) when I was a kid. By the time I got to grade ten, I'd been in eight schools (four different schools just in grade eight!). I never had any problem making friends but I must say it was hard going to a new school and making new friends just to leave them and have t......more