In order to understand better the characteristics of adolescents’ cognition of friendship

addressing words representing different people with different social relationships with adolescents were provided through computer to the adolescent participants. 211 participants aging from 9 to 15

graded in 4

6

and 8 participated in the experiment. They were asked to make judgment whether it is possible for two persons（ two words） to be friends. The results showed that:（ 1） Adolescents believed that two persons respectively with different social relationships with them were likely to form another relationship——friendship.（ 2） Adolescents’ judgement was influenced by the two persons’ background and their rank or bei（ generation）. Two persons sharing the same background

or with the same rank or bei（ generation） were more likely to be friends.（ 3） There were significant age differences in adolescents’ judgment of potential friendship. Adolescents in grade 8 were more likely to believe that two persons might become friends. Grade 8 is a key stage in the development of friendship cognition.