Navigating Friendship Formation in the Digital Era: The Role of Value Congruence in Emerging Adulthood

Johannes A. Karl, Joanne Sneddon, Ronald Fischer, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, The Centre for Human and Cultural Values, UWA Business School, The University of Western Australia, Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit, Institute D, Or for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro

Emerging Adulthood

Published online on February 14, 2026

Abstract

Emerging Adulthood, Volume 14, Issue 3, Page 618-627, June 2026.
Forming novel friendships is an important aspect of emerging adulthood, yet little is known about how emerging adults identify potential friends in contexts where behavioral information is limited. We propose that emerging adults use value congruence to ...