The meteoric rise of countless social media platforms and mobile applications in the 21st century has illuminated the profound place that friendship and connection have in all of our lives; and yet, very few scholarly volumes have focused on this unique and important bond during the new era of relating to one another. Exploring such topics as friendship and social media, friendship with current and past romantic partners, co-workers, mentors and even pets, editors Mahzad Hojjat and Anne Moyer lead an expert group of global contributors as they each explore how friendship factors within our lives today. What does it mean to be a friend? What roles do friendships play in our own development? How do we befriend those across the race, ethnicity, gender, and orientation spectrums? What happens when a friendship turns sour? What is the effect of friendship--good and bad--on our mental health? Providing a much needed update to the fiend of interpersonal relations, The Psychology of Friendship serves as a field guide for readers as they learn to shed traditional defintions of friendship in favor of contemporary contexts and connections. --Dust jacket.