Primary Friends and Kin: A Study of the Associations of Middle Class Couples

In the urban middle class, husbands are more likely than wives to initiate primary friendships for the couple at all stages of the family cycle. Couples in their forties and fifties who have been married a longer period of time have neither more nor less primary friends than recently married individuals. The modal number of local primary friendship units is two. Frequent association with relatives is not related to pattern of visiting with friends. Similarly, frequent getting together with friends does not appear to bear any relationship to how frequently couples see relatives. Approximately half of the husbands and wives claimed not to have a single primary friend independent of their spouse. Finally, children are not found to play a constraining role nor do they enhance the prospects that their parents will interact more often with primary friends. T hle present report is concerned with the primary friendlslhips of muiddle class couples. Previously it was foundl that husbands exercised greater influence in determining who the primary friends of the couple would be. Also, friendships initiated by the husband were more primary than those (lesser in nunmber) initiated by the wife.' Infornmatioln fronm two additional samples (one purposive, the other ranclomn) having somewhat different characteristics from the original populationl has now been gathered (a) to provide more detailed informlation bearing on the initial findings alnd (b) to break new ground anld make possible a more refined analysis of primary relations. Thus, as in the earlier research, spouses were asked to idlentify mutual primary friends, indicate who had initiated such friendships, note the types of activities engaged in, provide information on the fr-equency of visiting, and so forth. But in a different vein, informiiation was soughlt on why couples disagreed in the friendship choices they made, on the frequency with which couples saw relatives (assuming that this fact would bear on the frequency with which couples would see friends), and on the role played by children in the friendship patterning of the couple. Finally, the question was raised as to whether spouses maintained primary friends independent of each other. A "primilary friend" was a person with whom one was predisposed to enter into a wide range of activities (within limits imposed by such factors as interests, sex, age, financial resources, etc.), and with whom there would be a predominance of positive affect.2 Such persons in interaction would constitute a primary group. In this formiulation, the sociological dimensions whiich lhave traditionally been viewed as defining the concept, namely, smallness in size, dluration in timne, frequency of interaction, ancl homloogeneity of mlembership were seen as predisposing conditions or effects of primary groups.3 Support of the University Research Council of the University of Nebraska is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are extended to George R. Peters, Wilma M. Hepker, Kennard D. Kelly, William W'. Walker, and Gregory H. Hupp who collaborated with me on the field research reported in this paper. 1 Nicholas Babchuk and Alan P. Bates, "The Primary Relations of Middle-Class Couples: A Study in Male Dominance," Amueri'can Sociological Reviczco, 28 (June 1963), pp. 377-384. 2 Alan P. Bates and Nicholas Babchuk, "The Primary Group: A Reappraisal," Sociological Quitarter-ty, 2 (July 1961), pp. 181-191. 3 In treating elemenits associated vith primary groups, Greer focuses onl size, tinme, ecology, and homogeneity. Davis, onl the other hand, in his discussion of the physical conditions of primary groups speaks of three essential conditions which, when present, give rise to primary groups, naimiely, plhysical proxinmity, smallness of size, and the duration of the relationship. Scott A. Greer, Social Organizatio)i (Newv York: Random House, This content downloaded from 157.55.39.203 on Thu, 20 Oct 2016 04:20:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms