Who is Your Best Friend? - The Dimensions of Quality in a Friendship Relationship / Tko je tvoj najbolji prijatelj? - dimenzije kvalitete prijateljskoga odnosa

Abstract

The authors of this study define a relationship with a best friend as a form of interpersonal relationship between two people who are close, based on mutual attraction, respect and recognition, within which there is support and protection, intimacy, satisfaction, enjoyment in one another's company, and successful resolution of problems. The purpose of this study was to establish the dimensions of a friendship relationship and test the structure of a questionnaire examining the quality of a friendship relationship in the category of "best friend". The research was conducted via a survey method on a sample of 316 students of 5th, 6th and 7th grades of elementary school. The factor structure of the questionnaire was studied by a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis of the questiononaire's structure resulted in a 4-factor model with 17 items that meet the recent criteria in validation of research instruments. The extracted factors indicate the importance of intimacy, use of leisure time, emphasizing the person's value and protection. According to all important indicators, the final model was shown to be methodologically reliable as a simple instrument with a potential of wide practical application in research on quality dimensions of a relationship between best friends.

Key words: factor analysis; intimacy; leisure time; value; protection.

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Autori ovoga rada definiraju prijateljski odnos s najboljim prijateljem kao oblik interpersonalnoga odnosa između dvije bliske osobe zasnovan na obostranoj privlačnosti, poštovanju i uvažavanju unutar kojeg dolazi do potpore i zaštite, intimiteta, zadovoljstva, uživanja u društvu i uspješnoga rješavanja problema. Svrha rada bila je utvrditi dimenzije prijateljskoga odnosa i testirati svojstva strukture upitnika kojim se ispituje kvaliteta prijateljskoga odnosa u kategoriji najbolji prijatelj. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 316 učenika 5., 6. i 7. razreda osnovne škole metodom anketiranja. Faktorska struktura upitnika istraživala se kombinacijom eksplorativne i konfirmativne faktorske analize. Analiza strukture upitnika rezultirala je 4-faktorskim modelom od 17 čestica koji ispunjava recentne kriterije u validaciji istraživačkih instrumenata. Ekstrahirani faktori ukazuju na važnost intimiteta, provođenja slobodnoga vremena, isticanja vrijednosti osobe te zaštite. Finalni se model prema svim bitnim indikatorima pokazuje kao metodološki pouzdan i za korištenje jednostavan instrument koji bi mogao imati široke praktične primjene među istraživačima i praktičarima u istraživanju dimenzija kvalitete odnosa među najboljim prijateljima.

Ključne riječi: faktorska analiza; intimitet; slobodno vrijeme; vrijednosti; zaštita