Friendship concepts among female medical students: A qualitative approach

This is a qualitative study which explained the concepts about reasoning of friendship among girls which they used to prefer while making somebody their companion. aimed at this purpose,8 medical students were conveniently sampled from a private medical college for a focus group discussion. initially,a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of fifteen open-ended questions was designed. during a two-hour discussion,similarities and differences in opinion were noted down for further content analysis in order to generate themes and subthemes out of them. 5 main themes elicited were,definition of friendship; qualities to be considered for making a friend; importance of a good friend in life; more loyal friend,a girl/boy; and ingredients of a genuine friendship. it was concluded that a genuine friendship depends on several psychological,social and emotional aspects of human behavior and gets strengthened by mutual understanding,support,and cooperation. this bonding as a friend plays the role of a therapist by sharing and managing stress as well as a motivator by boosting up their morale to achieve the set goals in life and as an entertainer by making they feel happy and satisfied.