The main purpose of this research was to identify the ways in which adolescents perceive and describe their subjective well-being, to what extent they experience subjective well-being in their lives and to gain a deeper insight into the ways they see different aspects of friendship impact on their subjective well-being. By using focus groups and actively including adolescents in research, a deeper understanding of the problem and a clearer knowledge of the characteristics of subjective well-being in adolescence has been achieved. Participants in this study were high school students from Zagreb. The sample was formed in agreement with the school psychologist. During focus groups a script with open questions was used. A thematic framework analysis was used for the analysis of the collected data. The most significant factors of adolescent subjective well-being were relationships with parents and friends as well as involving themselves in enjoyable activities. Participants described a predominant feeling of dissatisfaction and emphasized that young people today are not happy. After the initial expression of dissatisfaction, the participants showed a tendency of reducing the problem and not accepting the dissatisfaction as justified. Basic psychological needs in friendship are perceived by participants as interrelated and necessary for a quality functional relationship. The need for relatedness is perceived as the easiest achievable and independent of the other two needs. The need for autonomy is the most important for determining the seriousness of relationship. The need for competence is linked to the school context and participants’ relationships which encourage their development and progress. The challenge of communication in resolving conflicts, the lack of ability to express their feelings and perceive the seriousness of the conflict was emphasized during focus groups.