• Compare and contrast different types of friendships.
• Describe the cycle of friendship from formation to maintenance to dissolution/deterioration.
• Discuss how friendships change across the life span, from adolescence to later life.
• Explain how culture and gender influence friendships.

Do you consider all the people you are "friends" with on Facebook to be friends? What's the difference, if any, between a "Facebook friend" and a real-world friend? Friendships, like other relationship forms, can be divided into categories. 

What's the difference between a best friend, a good friend, and an old friend? What about work friends, school friends, and friends of the family?