Active And Passive Friendships, How Are They Different?

All of us have or have had passive and active friendships at some point. This distinction does not reflect the enriching social ties of those who are less so. In reality, they are the canvas of that most luminous and lush garden of human relationships, the one where flowers, shrubs and weeds of all kinds live … All that varied flora makes our day to day more beautiful.

However, as always happens, there are some plants that we appreciate much more. In the world of friendship, the same thing happens: in our personal circle we have people with whom we have greater complicity and also with those figures who, without becoming intimate, we like to talk with them, share specific things, see them from time to time.

We are, in many cases, social beings who need those daily interactions with which we feel good. We equally appreciate that conversation with our usual baker, that time having a coffee with a co-worker or that more complicit walk with our best friend to explain our concerns.

There are different types of friendship and, as long as they are sincere and enriching, the degree of intimacy does not matter. Authenticity always matters. We delve into this topic.

Passive and active friendships, how are they different?

If you care about relationships, you will agree that calling someone a “friend” is as special as it is meaningful. You don’t do it every day and not everyone earns that designation. However, there are also many people who, far from understanding the depth of this term, sometimes violate it by breaking down that sacred temple that is trust and mutual respect.

Be that as it may, we all have or have had more than one friendship and we know how gratifying it is to have a life ally, a day-to-day companion and that emotional refuge where everything fits: joys and also sorrows.

However, in the 1970s, Mark Granovetter, professor of sociology at Stanford University, published a research paper entitled The strength of weak ties , which was a new reformulation of the concept of friendship.

It is good to recover this work in the era of new technologies. Somehow, with Granovetter’s theory on passive and active friendships, we understand much more the importance that those friendships that we make on our social networks can have.

We cannot minimize its relevance because sometimes that person we meet through Facebook or any application can be as important as that childhood friend. Let’s find out a little more about this interesting categorization.

Active friendships: the deep connection that enriches your life

Active friendships are present in your daily life in many ways. You consider them your family and they know practically everything about you. You share with them experiences, values, secrets, complicities, snippets of sad moments and many moments of happiness in common. In addition, they are your constant refuge when something does not go well and, sometimes, they are more necessary for you than your own partner.

Some have been with you for decades, since you started primary or secondary school, and the “crush” was almost instantaneous. Others are of recent acquisition, people who crossed paths not long ago at your destination, but who seem to have known them since you came into the world.

The interaction is constant between you. It does not matter that you are away from time to time, because the concern to know how you are, what hurts you or what series you are watching is constant. And that stainless support, that knowing how to be present in every moment and circumstance, gives you happiness.

Passive friendships, weak ties that make you feel good

Passive and active friendships are not opposites. One is not the reverse of the other. They are actually complementary. Moreover, in recent years this theory of Dr. Mark Granovetter has been recovered as a clear reflection of what happens in this society of new technologies and digital.

Passive friendships are people who are beyond our circle of intimacy, but whose interaction generates well-being. An example of this can be a neighbor, a relative’s friend, that girl from the store downstairs, that co-worker with whom we get along well, that person we see once a week in the subway and with whom we have conversations. interesting

Passive and active friendships differ basically in closeness and affection. Also  a weak bond is the one that we can establish with those we meet on social networks. We like to talk to them, share common interests. However, we know that many of those relationships never go much further.

According to what sociologist Mark Granovetter explained to us, these passive, non-binding friendships are a great encouragement on a day-to-day basis. They make us happy, they bring us new perspectives and moments of gentle relaxation. They also transmit us knowledge, positive emotions and a sense of belonging.

Passive and active friendships, a vital necessity

Good friends better if they are few; When it comes to passive friendships, the more the merrier. To understand this idea we will put an example. Steve Jobs designed the Pixar building with a very specific idea: to make it easier for employees from different departments to chance upon each other.

The idea was to achieve that kind of passive friendship with which creativity is stimulated. Those chance encounters were always positive, friendly and enriching, ideas flowed and stress was reduced. It was not necessary to create “great friendships”, but those bonds of courtesy and kindness where new ideas often flowed. That was the key.

Therefore, to mediate our well-being, it is good to raise all those daily social contacts. Short conversations, a how about everything or how your day is going , always enriches us. And this type of bond, like good friendships, is something that we should cultivate and promote until our wrinkles are filled with years and an enjoyable life.