How to make friends at work

While research shows that groups of friends outperform groups of acquaintances when making decisions - and the mere opportunity to make friends at work can have a positive effect on job involvement, satisfaction, and commitment - conversely, not having friends at work can actually make you stupid.

That being said, making friends as an adult isn't always easy, and efforts to do so at work can sometimes feel forced.

Luckily, as psychologist and author Ron Friedman explains in his book "The Best Place To Work," you likely already have three ingredients necessary for friendship on your side - physical proximity, familiarity, and similarity.

The last thing you need is to share your secrets.

According to relationship researchers, for two people to deeply connect, it's not enough to just talk shop - both people need to share intimate details about themselves. And as the relationship grows, the level of self-disclosure also needs to grow.

When researchers from Washington State University interviewed coworkers to determine how they became friends, they discovered a pattern of self-disclosure that included sharing problems from one's personal, home, and work life.

In a competitive work environment, sharing emotionally sensitive information can lead to awkward situations. Here's how to open up the right way in the workplace: