title: Friendship, perceived mattering and happiness: a study of American and Turkish college students.
abstract: Although it is well established that friendship is a consistent correlate of happiness, less is known about how friendship experiences might promote happiness. The current investigation addressed this gap by testing a mediational model proposing that perceived mattering explains the association of friendship quality with happiness among college students in Turkey and the United States. An alternative model suggesting friendship quality as the mediator was also tested to enhance confidence in the proposed model. SEM analyses revealed that perceived mattering mediated the association of friendship with happiness only in the American sample. In the Turkish sample, friendship quality mediated the association between mattering and happiness. Findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural research and suggest that the underlying processes and psychological mechanisms related to the friendship-happiness link might be different in different cultures.
authors.affiliation: Northern Arizona University, Psychology Department, PO. Box 15106, Flagstaff AZ 86011-5036, USA. md355@nau.edu
authors.forename: Melikşah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Ayça
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozen
authors.forename: Aysun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doğan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult