Friendship

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For young people, emotions are highly contagious social viruses

Like viruses, our internal mental states are socially transmissible, and it’s easier to catch happiness than depression

by Jack Andrews

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For Beauvoir, it’s friendship that lets us become truly ourselves

For Simone de Beauvoir, friendship, even more than love, was the means to overcome the tragedy of our radical separation

by Skye C Cleary

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Is it better to have friends who are like you or different from you?

Studies of longterm friends offer surprising insights as to whether friends who are more or less alike tend to endure

by Christian Jarrett

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Why you shouldn’t shrink from challenging your loved ones’ views

Care is warranted when arguing with friends and family. But you can be respectful and still point out the flaws in their views

by Matt Ferkany

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Empathic friends can provide the right kind of peer pressure

Research on empathy development in adolescents suggests an under-appreciated potential for positive peer influence

by Marta Miklikowska & Lauree Tilton-Weaver