Making Time for Friends: A Scientific How-To Guide for Maintaining and Strengthening Friendship in Adulthood

Research has long shown the benefits of social connection for individual well-being. Positive Psychology offers several theories for fostering social connection and yet, throughout our lives we aren’t formally taught how to sustain connections, particularly our cherished friendships. Once you form a friendship, how do you make it last? In this paper, we examine friendship through existing literature and qualitative research leveraging exemplar methodology. Because a pursuit of well-being often includes a pursuit of friendship, we offer research-supported, real-world strategies for maintaining and strengthening friendships in adulthood.