Difference between Friendship and Relationship (With Table)

Most animals are social animals and they do in different ways. As for human beings, they have the ability to talk, and that makes them have a close relationship.

When a bond exists between two individuals, it can be based on various aspects. For instance, it can be based on love, trust, honesty, marriage, or blood.

The bond can either result in a friendship or relationship. The two terms have been used interchangeably but they mean totally different.

So, what is the main difference between friendship and relationship? Friendship is where two individuals are not dependent on each other and share a joyful bond while a relationship is where two people are interdependent and have commitment between them.

For more information about the difference between friendship and relationship in a tabular form, continue reading the article. You will also get to learn of the similarities between the two.

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Comparison table (Friendship Vs Relationship)

Basic Terms	Friendship	Relationship
Definition	Is where two individuals are not dependent on each other.	It is where two individuals are dependent on each other and they have committed.
State of bond	It is a state of being in a joyful relationship.	The bond can be by blood, marriage between people who are in love with each other.
Dependency	They do not depend on each other.	They depend on each other.
Devoted time	Do not need much time to develop.	It needs much time for it to develop.
Decision making	People are free to make their own decisions.	Decisions are based on mutual discussions.
Characteristics	Honesty, trust, sincerity, care, and understanding.	The main characteristic is commitment.
Form	It is only based on deliberate form.	It is based on both deliberate and natural forms.
Termination	It is easy to terminate.	It is difficult to terminate.

What is Friendship?

Friendship is where two individuals are not dependent on each other but share a joyful bond. The individuals freely care for one another and share positive and bad news.

It is based and maintained on the grounds of honesty, trust, care, sincerity, and understanding. It exists in a deliberate form where people choose to be friends but they are not obligated to be friends by natural aspects.

A philosopher classified friendship into three groups. That is friendship for a utility which serves the purpose such as going to the gym together, the friendship of pleasure that makes you feel light-hearted and happy and friendship of the good which is a friendship for few people and it is lifelong.

Friends are necessary as no human being is an island. One would feel incomplete without having friends in his or her life.

What is a Relationship?

The relationship is where two individuals are dependent on each other and have commitment. The bond that exists between the two may be of blood or marriage hence it is based on natural form.

It can either be legal or through voluntary action. It is more of a love bond and the two individuals involved respect each other’s personal space.

It includes one accepting the other with all his or her faults. It involves love, affection, and care but most important is commitment.

In a relationship, life moves around mutual understanding between the two. Decisions are not made individually as they are based on mutual agreement.

It needs much time to develop as one needs to understand each other as they need to live by each other’s faults hence also making it difficult to terminate.

Main Difference between Friendship and Relationship

Friendship is not dependent while the relationship is dependent.
Friendship takes little time to develop while a relationship takes a lot of time to develop.
Friendship is based on honesty, care, trust, and understanding while the relationship is based on commitment.
Friendship is only based on the deliberate form while the relationship is based on both deliberate and natural forms.
The state of bond in a friendship is being in a joyful relationship while the state of bond in a relationship is being in love.
In friendship, everyone is free to make his or her own decisions while in a relationship decision-making is based on mutual understanding.
It is easy to terminate a friendship while it is difficult to terminate a relationship.

Similarities between Friendship and Relationship

They both exist on a bond between the individuals.
Both are developed on the basis of trust.

Conclusion

Friendship and relationship are both terms that are used to refer to bonds between individuals. This happens where the individuals have trust in each other.

However, the two terms are completely different from each other. The main difference between friendship and relationship is that friendship is where individuals do not depend on each other but they are in a joyful relationship while the relationship is where individuals depend on each other and they have committed.

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