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Updated: May 26, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Perceived autonomy support, friendship maintenance, and happiness
Melikşah Demir1, Metin Ozdemir, Kendra Patrice Marum
1Northern Arizona University, Psychology Department, P.O. Box 15106, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5036, USA. md355@nau.edu
Abstract:
Decades of empirical research have shown that perceived autonomy support in close relationships is an essential correlate of happiness. However, what might account for the relationship between the 2? For this article, 4 studies (total N=1325) investigated friendship maintenance as a mediator of the association between friendship autonomy support and happiness. The first 3 studies supported the model for the best friendship of the individual when happiness was assessed with 3 different measures. The 4th study extended the findings by showing that the model was generalizable to the other close friendship of the individual. Overall, the results supported the idea that engaging in routine and strategic behaviors to maintain friendships explains how perceived autonomy support in friendships is associated with happiness. The theoretical and applied implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for future research were made.
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