Symbolic self-completion theory suggests that people who are committed to a certain self-definitional goal, e.g., "psychologist,""parent,""dancer," are not willing to give up this goal when facing a shortcoming. Such individuals often engage in self-symbolizing or positive self-descriptions designed to coverup the…

R. L. Selman, in his model of friendship conceptions (1984) distinguished 5 stages of these conceptions, relating to qualitative changes in sociocognitive development. In his model, specific differentiations relating to sociodemographic, gender-specific, and cultural factors are not foreseen. To investigate the significance of social and cultural…