Levels of Friendship

Everyone starts at acquaintance! We all have to start somewhere and work our way up. We often feel awkward and uncomfortable. That's okay! Everyone else does too. Some people stay here. You can't move everyone up, so everyone typically has more people at this level than any other level!

You hang out a lot in the setting you met. If you're a circumstantial friend, you probably try to sit by this person in class or at lunch. This person may even be a good friend of a friend, so you see him or her often. It's circumstantial, as you only see this friend in a specific circumstance (location or with another person). At this level, small talk becomes a bit more personal. You're still not sharing a lot, but you're starting to feel comfortable! Remember, sometimes people stay here. It's not always the goal to move friends to best friends. We need friends at all levels!

You're hanging out in large groups often or one-on-one because of a mutual interest. This person is definitely within your larger group of friends. You know a lot about each other, but still keep some things private. You're pretty comfortable with this person. If this person is hanging out with your friends, you usually expect an invite too. The level is much smaller, so it's okay for people to stay at this level!

You're best friends! You hang out one-on-one pretty frequently. You're very comfortable with this person. You tell this person a lot about yourself and he or she tells you a lot about him or herself. You can trust that it stays between the two of you. There's a high level of trust. You also have high expectations for this person, and he or she does of you. If you enter a party, you expect him or her to include you and vice versa. If you have a hard test, this person will probably know about it and ask you how it went after. Since you have such high expectations for each other and spend so much time with this person(s), not many people get to this level!