A Theoretical Integration of the Psychology of Virtuous Friendship

Abstract

Friendship has been widely studied in various psychological disciplines, especially developmental and social psychology. In classical and Catholic-Christian texts, though, one finds allusions to a particularly deep and intimate kind of friendship, termed here as, “Virtuous Friendship”. This dissertation aims at a mutual enrichment of this tradition and the current psychological thought. The purpose of the current dissertation is to draw out a structural definition of Virtuous Friendship from ancient/Christian authors and theoretically integrate it with the current psychological theory and research in an interdisciplinary and integrative way. Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and C.S. Lewis’ treatments of friendship are explored and integrated with various schools of psychological thought, including Positive Psychology, Attachment Theory, and Interpersonal Process Psychology. Thus, it will be proposed through various psychological lenses that Virtuous Friendship, when taken as a categorically unique relational variable, can be seen as a potential source of psychological integration, healing, and flourishing. The insights of current psychological thought can also add a more granular understanding to philosophical and theological frameworks. Implicated future directions of research, clinical application, and further theoretical integration are discussed.