FRIENDSHIP MAINTENANCE BEHAVIOUR BASED ON WORKING POSITION AND MARITAL STATUS AMONG WORKING WOMEN IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Nowadays, friend play an important role in women’s life especially with the consideration that more women are working and not only rely on family for social supports. This research examined impact of working position and marital status on friendship maintenance behavior among working women in Malaysia, particularly on how women maintained their friendship based on the position of working and marital status. This study conducted using a survey involving 500 women who work at public university in Malaysia. Data was collected using the Friendship Maintenance Scale. The data collection procedure involved three steps, beginning with preparation of the instrument, then obtaining approval from related organizations, followed by online data collection via email. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 23 and the data were interpreted using descriptive analyses. The findings of the study found that women have different behavior on how they maintained their friendship based on position of working and marital status. The findings of this study contributed to the developments of literatures regarding women’s friendship especially for better understanding regarding the nature of friendship among working women in Malaysia. A better understanding of the nature could provide a suitable social support for maintaining working women relationships as well as their psychological well-being.