Levels of Perspectives and the Perception of Intimacy in Cross-Sex Friendships: A Balance Theory Explanation of Shared Perceptual Reality

Abstract

Higher levels of interpersonal perception in personal relationships have been relatively ignored over the last decade, as well as the role played by those perceptions in the creation of a relationship. Through utilization of Balance Theory and a variation of Laing's Interpersonal Perception Method, this study investigated multiple levels of interpersonal perception in cross-sex friendships, and how those perceptions help create a shared perceptual reality among cross-sex friends. One hundred and three pairs of cross-sex friends completed a survey examining direct perspectives (DPs), metaperspectives (MPs), and metametaperspectives (MMPs), on various manifestations of intimacy, the importance of the friendship and the definition of the relationship. As predicted by Balance Theory, there was significant agreement, understanding and realization of understanding between cross-sex friends concerning intimacy in the relationship and the importance of friendship. Results also reveal that perceived agreement and perceived understanding in those friendships was significantly greater than actual agreement and understanding. In addition, there was strong evidence that individuals in cross-sex friendships use their own attitudes as a basis for predicting the attitudes of their partner - that they create their partner's perspectives so that they more closely agree with their own (i.e. they assimilate). These results question the acceptability of higher-order perspectives as fully validated constructs, and suggest that the location of explanatory force in POX systems may reside in individual level variables - as opposed to dyadic level measurements.