“As You Grow up the Divide Still Tends to Happen”: A Qualitative Investigation of Gender Segregation in Adulthood

Abstract

Gender segregation, the tendency to form social relationships with those of the same gender, is believed to contribute to gender-typing (Mehta and Strough in Sex Roles 63:251–263, 2010), sexism (Keener et al. in Gend Educ 25:818–833, 2013; Leaper in Childhood gender segregation: causes and consequences, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1994) and beliefs that it is it is only appropriate to be friends with those of the same gender (Werking in We’re just good friends: women and men in nonromantic relationships, Guilford Press, New York, 1997). While gender segregation and its correlates have been widely studied in childhood, little research has investigated gender segregation in adulthood. In the present study, we qualitatively investigated gender segregation, potential contributors to gender segregation, and cross-gender friendships by interviewing a sample of eleven heterosexual adults (six female, five male) aged 30–39. Participants reported preferring and feeling closer to their same-gender friends than their cross-gender friends and having different interests and activity preferences than their cross-gender friends. Participants also reported that being in a heterosexual romantic relationship promoted both gender segregation and the formation of cross-gender friendships. Finally adults reported that they gained enjoyment and perspective from their cross-gender friendships. Taken together, this research suggests that while gender segregation continues to exist in adulthood, adults enjoy and recognize the benefits of having cross-gender friends.