Final answer:
Friendships evolve from simple bonding in infancy to complex, intimate relationships in adulthood. Developmental stages like childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood each come with unique social dynamics, emphasizing cooperation, identity seeking, and the establishment of deep connections respectively.
Step-by-step explanation:
Friendships and social relationships undergo notable changes across different developmental periods. During infancy, the first year of life, the primary social interactions are with primary caregivers, with emphasis on bonding and attachment rather than friendships in the traditional sense.
In childhood, typically defined from birth to adolescence, children begin to socialize with peers. Starting from ages six to ten, they often play with same-gender friends, slowly transitioning to mixed-gender groups. Play and interaction within formal groups such as sports teams and scouts become significant, and cooperation, sharing, and sometimes jealousy are observed behaviors among peers.
Adolescence brings about significant changes as individuals seek to solidify their identity and relationships become more complex and intimate. Adolescents spend a considerable amount of time with their peers and may develop romantic relationships. This period is marked by mental, emotional, and social growth in addition to the physical changes of puberty.
As individuals enter early adulthood, the focus shifts to intimacy versus isolation. After establishing a self-identity in adolescence, adults look to form deeper connections and intimate relationships, which can be adversely affected if a positive self-concept was not developed during the earlier stages.