Statistics

Psychology

Friendship

Life satisfaction

Social capital

Database

Social psychology

Psychotherapist

Quality of life (healthcare)

Mathematics

Survey data collection

Computer science

Relation (database)

Sociology

Social science

Interpersonal ties

Genus

Social capital is defined as the individual's pool of social resources found in his/her personal network. A recent study on Italians living as couples has shown that friendship relationships, beyond those within an individual's family, are an important source of support. Here, we used data from Aspects of Daily Life, the Italian National Statistical Institute's 2012 multipurpose survey, to analyze the relation between friendship ties and life satisfaction. Our results show that friendship, in terms of intensity (measured by the frequency with which individuals see their friends) and quality (measured by the satisfaction with friendship relationships), is positively associated to life satisfaction.

Social relations and life satisfaction: the role of friends