EXTRACT B

Models of friendship show that there are two main categories of factors that influence our choice and pursuit of potential friends: individual factors and environmental factors. Individual factors include such influences as approachability, social skills, self-disclosure, similarity, and closeness. Environmental factors include influences such as proximity, geography, activities, and life events.

Research continues to support our preferences for friends who we believe to be similar to ourselves and who have personalities that we enjoy being around; choosing friends such as these most likely decreases the possibility for interpersonal conflict.

Level of attractiveness also comes into play during the initial stages of friendship. Researchers have explored this seemingly innate attraction to attractive people and have found out some interesting things. For one, an attractive face tends to feel familiar to us—we feel like we have already interacted with this person previously, even if we have not. This feeling of recognition may partly explain why we might be drawn initially to an attractive person—their presence may help us feel comfortable in a social situation. However, it is still unproven that attractive women actually have more friends than less attractive women. In fact, research tends to show that we pretty much choose friends who we would rank at about the same level of attractiveness that we rank ourselves—the same way we tend to choose long-term romantic partners who are similar to us in their level of attractiveness.

EXTRACT C

In Shakespeare’s England, the term “friend” could be used to express a wide range of interpersonal relations. A friend could be anything from a neighbour, a lover, or fellow countryman, to a family member or the close personal acquaintance we understand as a “friend” today. Much like power or love, different types of friendship are one of the central themes in Shakespeare’s plays, dealing with the positivity of close and trusting friendships, but also with its fragility and the resultant dangers when trust breaks down.

Being a true Shakespearean friend means above all loyalty, unwavering support, and mutual respect– clearly shown in the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet’s one true ally and stands by the tragic Prince throughout his troubles, going so far as to offer to commit suicide for him. This tragic conclusion seems to be a pattern for many Shakespearean friends, revealing the darker side of human relationships. Some of the most famous villains are the ones who betray their nearest and dearest friends, indicating that unwavering trust and friendship, like the trust Julius Caesar places in his friend Brutus until the very end, can be easily misplaced.

EXTRACT D

The year I turned thirty was the year I realised I didn’t have friends. I was heading into a new decade of my life feeling strong about my career, my life accomplishments and my relationship with my partner. But when he asked me who I wanted to invite to my birthday party, my mouth opened and I let out a long trail of "ummms".

In my early twenties, I was a friend-making machine. But then something changed. A lot of my friends got married and had kids while I was still on the first-date trail. Some of my friends moved states away and our conversations grew stale and we rarely saw each other. I got laid-off from my full-time job and started working for myself, out of my apartment, with no water cooler chit chat or happy hours to attend. Then, as a complete shock, my best friend of seven years abruptly told me that she no longer wanted to be friends anymore.

I felt sad and lonely as I entered my thirties and I placed a lot of the blame on myself. I didn’t feel like I'd invested time in nurturing friendships. I often cancelled plans on the weekends to do work. I forgot to respond to text messages for days. I could have shown more interest in my friends and their growing families rather than in finding someone to date. Instead, I spent a lot of my free time alone, sulking about the fact that I didn’t have someone to call a best friend and I didn’t have a guest list big enough to reserve more than a table for two on my birthday.