Same-gender Friendships Research Articles

Exploring Within-Gender Differences in Friendships Using an Online Social Network

People tend to befriend others similar to themselves, generating a pattern called homophily. However, existing studies on friendship patterns often rely on surveys that assess the perspective of relatively few participants on their friendships but do not measure actualized friendship patterns. Here, we used data from a large Slovakian online social network to assess the role of gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) in same-gender online connections among more than 400,000 users. We found that age and BMI homophily occurred in both men’s and women’s same-gender connections, but somewhat more strongly among men’s. Yet, as women diverged in BMI, their connections were less likely to be reciprocated. We discuss how the evolutionary legacy of men’s coalitional competition (e.g., warfare) and women’s mating competition or recruitment of allocare providers might contribute to these patterns in modern same-gender relationships. For example, men’s engagement in physical activities may lead to similar formidability levels among their same-gender peers. Altogether, our findings highlight the importance of trait similarity to same-gender friendship patterns.

Why is Korean girls' suicidal ideation rate higher than boys' rate? The role of gender heterogeneity in peer groups.

Girls typically show much lower suicide rates than boys in most OECD countries. However, in South Korea, the suicide rate of girls almost reaches that of boys. Moreover, Korean girls' suicide rate is remarkable even among other advanced countries. One potential approach to explaining Korean girls' relatively high suicide rate is to investigate how their peer groups affect suicidal ideation, but this approach has rarely been explored in Korean adolescents. We tested how the gender heterogeneity of peer groups is associated with suicidal ideation by analyzing 2,990 adolescents from the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Well-Being Index Survey. For the analysis, logistic regression models with survey weights were used. The analysis revealed that adolescents with different-gender friends were associated with a higher likelihood of suicidal ideation than those with exclusively same-gender friends when adjusting for covariates. In addition, an analysis stratified by gender found that this association was significant only among girls. Furthermore, the protective power of having a mentor against suicidal ideation was significantly lower in girls with male and female friends than in girls with only female friends. The findings suggest a less protective role of different-gender peer groups for suicidal ideation among girls. During adolescent suicidality consultations, school counselors and practitioners should pay attention to the characteristics of adolescents' peers, particularly their gender.

Friendship networks in inclusive elementary classrooms: Changes and stability related to students’ gender and self-perceived social inclusion

Friendships with classmates play a significant role in student’s development. However, only some friendships are maintained for longer than a school year and their formation depend on many factors. One important factor is gender because gender homophily is consistently found in friendship networks. In addition, there is evidence that same-gender friendships are more stable. In the context of inclusive education, friendship can be considered as one of four key dimensions of social inclusion. While three of these dimensions are assessed from others’ perspective, self-perception of social inclusion focuses solely on the individual students’ view. However, hardly any studies investigated how students’ self-perception of social inclusion is related to friendships, and more specifically, whether and how self-perceived social inclusion is related to changes in friendship networks in the classroom. To contribute to this research gap, friendship networks of 280 students aged 9–11 years (49% girls) in 15 classes of Grade 4 were examined at the beginning and at the end of one school year. Network changes were analyzed with longitudinal social network analyses. Students’ gender and self-perception of inclusion were added as predictors of changes in the friendship networks. The results confirmed gender homophily for formation and stability. The analyses also showed that students who perceived themselves as socially included nominated more best friends at the end of the school year but were not necessarily perceived as best friends by their peers. This highlights the importance of considering different perspectives to better understand social inclusion in classrooms.

The destabilising effect of feminist, queer-inclusion and therapeutic counter-discourse: A feminist poststructuralist account of change in men's friendships

Critically engaging with prevailing theories of change in masculinities, this article offers a feminist poststructuralist account of Australian men's increasingly intimate same-gender friendships. Per Beasley, feminist poststructuralists treat social change as a consequence of contestation between discourses. In line with this, I contend that the increasing influence of feminist, queer-inclusion and therapeutic counter-discourses in recent decades has destabilised (but not overridden) masculinist discourse in the context of men's friendships, offering men an alternative subject position that allows care, expressiveness and intimacy. Here, I define each of these counter-discourses, demonstrate how they challenge the discursive components of masculinism and use snippets of data from an intergenerational study of Australian men's friendships to illustrate how this shapes men's homosocial practices. Ultimately, I argue that by applying a feminist poststructuralist lens, scholars can examine how men navigate new and contentious discursive terrain, and better account for the complexity of social change in masculinities.

Perceived Support from Best Friends and Depressive Symptoms During Adolescence: Disentangling Personal from Dyadic Level Effects

Support from best friends is an important interpersonal factor in adolescent depression development but is often studied from an individual perspective in which dyadic effects are overlooked. This study aims to a) test whether differences in support vary at the individual level and are related to individual differences in the development of depressive symptoms, whether these differences vary at the dyadic level and are related to dyadic depression symptom development, or both, b) explore whether these associations are moderated by initial levels of depressive symptoms on the individual and/or dyadic level. Data from 452 adolescents (Mage = 13.03), nested in 226 same-gender friendship dyads (60.6% boy-dyads) who participated in the RADAR-Y project were included. Best friends self-reported annually (2006–2008; 3 waves) on their own depressive symptoms and perceived support from their friend. Multilevel models showed no direct association between support and depression development on the individual or dyadic level. However, the initial level of dyads’ depressive symptoms moderated the association between dyadic support and dyads’ subsequent depression symptom development. When dyads experienced relatively more initial depressive symptoms, higher levels of dyadic support were associated with relative increasing dyadic depressive symptoms. When dyads experienced relatively few initial depressive symptoms, higher levels of dyadic support were associated with relative decreasing dyadic depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that support from best friends can either protect against or exacerbate the development of depressive symptoms for friends, depending on the initial level of depressive symptoms of the dyad.

Strong and weak tie homophily in adolescent friendship networks: An analysis of same-race and same-gender ties.

While we know that adolescents tend to befriend peers who share their race and gender, it is unclear whether patterns of homophily vary according to the strength, intimacy, or connectedness of these relationships. By applying valued exponential random graph models to a sample of 153 adolescent friendship networks, I test whether tendencies towards same-race and same-gender friendships differ for strong versus weak relational ties. In nondiverse, primarily white networks, weak ties are more likely to connect same-race peers, while racial homophily is not associated with the formation of stronger friendships. As racial diversity increases, however, strong ties become more likely to connect same-race peers, while weaker bonds are less apt to be defined by racial homophily. Gender homophily defines the patterns of all friendship ties, but these tendencies are more pronounced for weaker connections. My results highlight the empirical value of considering tie strength when examining social processes in adolescent networks.

Did you hear what she did to me? Female friendship victimization disclosures offer reputational advantages

Although gossip is a common tactic of women's same-gender competition, it carries social costs. Overtly malicious gossipers are generally disliked, suggesting those who transmit gossip in more palatable forms may be favored as social partners. Four studies (N = 1653) tested the hypothesis that women's heightened sensitivity to transgressions in friendships prompts divulgence of those violations, allowing women to covertly (and perhaps unintentionally) transmit reputation-harming information about same-gender peers. In Study 1, women were more likely than men to question a same-gender friendship following violations denoting a friend's lack of commitment or kindness. In Study 2, women were more likely than men to report disclosing such friendship violations to others. In Study 3, first-person disclosures about one's own victimization were more trusted and approved than third-person disclosures about others' victimization, suggesting such statements are not readily recognized as gossip. In Study 4a, men and women reported that their female friends disclosed all types of friendship violations more frequently than did their male friends, but especially those surrounding commitment and replacement risk. In Study 4b, female perpetrators suffered worse reputational damage than did male perpetrators following divulgence of their poor treatment of same-gender friends. Taken together, these results reveal women are especially concerned about same-gender friends' interpersonal treatment, they disclose their perceived victimization to others, and such disclosures effectively impair same-gender peers' reputations. These patterns raise the possibility that the greater fragility of female (versus male) friendships results, in part, from this effective, yet covert form of intragender competition.

Relationship dissolution in the friendships of emerging adults: How, when, and why?

Maintaining high-quality friendships is a key predictor of well-being during emerging adulthood, yet factors leading to friendship dissolution—defined here as actions that may decrease friendship quality or end the relationship completely—are poorly understood. Using an open-ended interview paradigm, we elicited 179 emerging adults’ (55.9% female; Mage = 20.42, SD = 1.54; 95.0% full-time university students) description of their behavioral responses to 53 hypothetical vignettes involving challenging situations with same-gender friends. We systematically coded participants’ 9,487 verbatim responses, identifying three types of friendship dissolution behaviors: completely ending the friendship, distancing from the friend, or compartmentalizing aspects of the friendship. Examining the occurrence of each response across different types of challenging situations, we found that transgressions by friends were more likely to elicit reported use of distancing and ending strategies. We also began to investigate associations between interpersonal goals and dissolution strategies, finding that stronger endorsement of the goal of asserting oneself was linked to greater odds of reporting ending the friendship, whereas the more participants reported that they would be trying to stay friends, the lower the odds of reporting either ending the relationship or distancing from the friend. Implications for future research on interpersonal processes in friendships are discussed.

Women do not shy away from competition: Competition in same-gender and cross-gender friendship dyads

ABSTRACT This study explored gender differences in competition within friendships of emerging adults. In a sample of 118 same and cross-gender friendship dyads, we used a quasi-experimental design to examine how people competed with friends and reacted to this competition when completing a task in both competitive and noncompetitive conditions. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling approach to data analyses, we found that in the noncompetitive condition, men and women competed more with same-gender than with cross-gender friends. In the competitive condition, however, both men and women behaved more competitively with male than with female friends. Interestingly, while men reported more stress when competing with cross-gender friends, there was no difference in reported stress for women, regardless of the gender of the friend with whom they were competing. The findings indicate that both the specific and general social context in which competition occurs are important in determining whether gender differences are observed.

Initial Development of a Situation-based Measure of Emerging Adults' Social Competence in their Same-gender Friendships.

This paper describes the development of a situation-based tool to assess emerging adults' social competence with same-gender friends, providing information about (1) challenges occurring in these relationships, (2) the behaviors used to manage these situations, and (3) the perceived effectiveness of these strategies. Undergraduates (N=747; 409 women; Mage =20.16, SD=1.43) participated in five studies. Transgressions, conflicts of interest, and support situations emerged as key challenges, and emerging adults reported using aggressive, assertive, avoidant, and apologizing behaviors to manage these situations. In general, apologizing and assertive behaviors were judged more effective than aggressive or avoidant behaviors. Results yielded the Inventory of Friendship Challenges for Emerging Adults (IFCEA), which showed expected associations with measures of interpersonal behavior.

Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Maladaptive Interpersonal Behavior in Adolescence.

Although most research conceptualizes emotion regulation as an internal process (i.e., intrapersonal), emotions are frequently regulated in an interpersonal context. Adolescents may be particularly prone to turn to peers for assistance, given that honing emotion regulation abilities is a key task and peers become increasingly important at this stage. Adolescents each participated with a self-nominated same-gender friend (total N = 186; M age = 15.68years). All participants provided self-reports of their own emotion regulation difficulties and their engagement in interpersonal behaviors (excessive reassurance seeking, negative feedback seeking, conversational self-focus, self-disclosure) as well as their perceptions of their friends' engagement in excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus. Using a cross-lagged panel model design, the current study tested associations between adolescents' intrapersonal emotion regulation difficulties and engagement in self- and friend-reported interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors at 3 time points over 6months. Gender and age group differences were considered. Results evidenced concurrent and longitudinal associations between emotion regulation difficulties and self-reported maladaptive (excessive reassurance seeking, conversational self-focus, negative feedback seeking), but not adaptive (self-disclosure), interpersonal regulatory behaviors. Friends' reports of adolescents' excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus were associated concurrently, but not longitudinally, with self-reported emotion regulation difficulties. Implications for clinical intervention with adolescents struggling to regulate emotions are discussed.

Coping With Stress Through Texting: An Experimental Study

PurposeTexting is used by many adolescents and has the potential to improve well-being, as youth can reach out for support immediately after experiencing a stressful situation. Many studies have examined whether texting is associated with well-being, but few have used experimental designs, preventing causal claims. MethodsIn this experimental study, 130 adolescents (Mage = 12.41) participated with a same-gender friend whom they texted regularly. Both adolescents completed a task that elicited stress and then engaged in one of the following randomly assigned activities: texting their friend, watching a video on a cellphone (passive-phone condition), or sitting quietly (no activity condition). Participants reported their mood and stress levels after the stress task and again after the activity. Heart rate variability was measured throughout. ResultsParticipants who texted their friend reported higher moods (b = −.80, standard error [SE] = .24, p < .001, ηp2 = .09) and lower stress at the end of the study than those in the no activity condition (b = .51, SE = .25, p = .046, ηp2 = .04) and higher moods than adolescents in the passive-phone condition (b = −.74, SE = .25, p = .004, ηp2 = .08). No differences were noted between the passive-phone and no activity conditions. There were no differences in heart rate variability between the three conditions. The effects of texting on mood, self-reported stress, and heart rate variability did not differ by gender. ConclusionsBoth boys and girls may benefit from texting a friend after experiencing a stressful event.

The influence of center-based care on young children's gender development

Many U.S. children spend a significant amount of time in center-based care prior to entering preschool. Previous theory and research would suggest center-based care settings offer important opportunities for gender socialization as children here are surrounded by multiple sources of gender-typing information (e.g. peers, adults, toys and activities). The present longitudinal study examined whether center-based care enrollment status influences level and timing of children's gender-typed behaviors (same-gender friendships, play and appearance), and knowledge (self-categorization and stereotyping) between the ages of 2–5. Participants were children and their mothers of low-income, urban backgrounds (N = 232; African American, Mexican American, and Dominican American). Overall, children enrolled in center-based care at ages 2 and 3 showed higher gender-typing patterns than children enrolled later or not at all. Associations were strongest for same-gender-friendships and gender-typed play, domains that might affect children's subsequent engagement in and learning of certain tasks, skillsets, and activities.

Does gender-bending help or hinder friending? The roles of gender and gender similarity in friendship dissolution.

We explored how gender and gender similarity affects friendship dissolution following the transition to middle school. We predicted that both gender and gender similarity (measured by perceived similarity to own-gender and other-gender peers) explain dissolution trends and that less own-gender similarity or more other-gender similarity predicts more friendship dissolution. We considered gender and gender similarity at both the individual and dyad level (reflecting the discrepancy between friends). Participants were 198 students in Grade 6 (42% Latinx, 21% Caucasian, 10% Native American, 8% African American, 2% Asian American, and 17% mixed backgrounds; 77% qualified for free/reduced meals) in reciprocated same- or mixed-gender friendships followed from fall to spring of the academic year. Multilevel multimember logistic regression models, nesting friendships within each participating individual, demonstrated that girl-girl friendships were less likely to dissolve than boy-boy friendships, and mixed-gender friendships did not dissolve more than same-gender friendships. Feeling similar to one's own gender predicted less dissolution, but feeling similar to the other gender did not increase friendship dissolution. There was no support for the hypothesis that feeling similar to both genders (i.e., androgyny) protected against friendship dissolution, nor was there any support for the hypothesis that dyad-level differences in gender similarity would predict dissolution. The discussion focuses on the importance of conducting individual and dyad-level analyses as well as including gender similarity constructs when studying gender differences in friendships and their trajectories over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender-related friend preferences of youths with different sexual orientations: the effects of gender role and sexual attraction

ABSTRACTThe current research aimed to investigate gender-related preferences of youths with different sexual orientations and examine the effects of gender role and sexual attraction. In Study 1, participants from China recalled the gender composition of their friends at different times, and data from 216 of them aged 17–24 were analysed. Growth curve models showed that more than half of the friends of heterosexual individuals were same-gender ones and they had an increasingly larger ratio of cross-gender best friends through adolescence, while gay men and lesbians had an increasingly larger ratio of same-gender friends and more than half of them had same-gender best friends. Gay men had a larger ratio of cross-gender friends in primary school than heterosexual men, while lesbians had a larger ratio of same-gender friends at university than heterosexual women. In Study 2, participants from China ranked their preferences for a set of character profiles and reported their gender role, and data from 141 of them aged 16–24 were analysed. Gay men and lesbians preferred same-gender persons to cross-gender ones. Gender role of the participant had an independent effect on preferences to a character with a given gender role. Findings indicated that sexual orientation has a strong impact on the gender composition of youths’ friendships, and more attention should be paid to sexual minorities in this field of research.

성별에 따른 중국인 한국어 학습자와 한국어 모어 화자의 칭찬 화행 연구

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Chinese Korean learners and Korean native speakers compliment each other and the types of complement. The results show that there is a significant difference between Chinese men and women in terms of compliment to same-gender friends. On the whole, Chinese Korean learners and Korean native speakers use direct compliment most frequently. Specifically, both Chinese Korean learners and Korean native speakers use “예쁘다” most frequently when complimenting women’s appearance, and use “멋있다” most frequently when complimenting men’s appearance. When complimenting possessions, Korean women often refer to surrounding topics such as “asking for information” and “personal mention (expressing personal thoughts)”. Korean women normally use “direct compliment + peripheral mention”. When praising ability and personality, Chinese Korean learners and Korean native speakers use direct expression of compliment most frequently.

SKIPing Together: A Motor Competence Intervention Promotes Gender-Integrated Friendships for Young Children

Young children typically report primarily same-gender friendships across childhood. However, there is growing awareness of the benefits of gender-integrated friendships and gender integration in schools, especially for social-emotional domains. The current study tested whether Successful Kinesthetic Instruction for Preschoolers (SKIP), an evidence-based motor competence intervention led by physical education teachers, promotes gender-integrated friendships in preschool-aged children. Results documented that children (Mage = 47.38, SD = 6.21 months, range = 36.67–60.25 months) assigned to the SKIP condition (n = 56) as compared to a control free-play condition (n = 37) showed higher motor skill competence and were more likely to report gender-integrated friendships post intervention. Growth in girls’ reports of gender-integrated friendships, in particular, drove the intervention effect on gender-integrated friendships. These findings highlight one example of how motor competence interventions can also result in benefits in social-emotional domains.

Archival Automation in the United Kingdom and the Relationship between Standardization and Computerization

Introduction While young people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are at greatest risk of HIV acquisition, uptake of HIV prevention interventions among them has been limited. Interventions delivered through social connections have changed behaviour in many settings, but not to date in SSA. There is little systematic evidence on whom young SSA adults turn to for advice. We therefore conducted an exploratory cross-sectional study from whom young rural South Africans received support and sexual behaviourspecific advice. Methods We asked 119 18–34 year olds in rural KwaZulu-Natal about the important people in their lives who provided emotional, informational, financial, physical, social or other support. We also asked whether they had discussed sex or HIV prevention with each contact named. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to analyse support and advice provision patterns. Results Respondents named 394 important contacts, each providing a mean of 1.7 types of support. Most contacts were relatives, same-gender friends or romantic partners. Relatives provided most informational, financial and physical support; friends and partners more social support and sexual advice. Respondents reported discussing sexual matters with 60% of contacts. Sources of support changed with age, from friends and parents, towards siblings and partners. Discussion Sexual health interventions for young adults in rural South Africa may be able to harness friend and samegeneration kin social ties through which sex is already discussed, and parental ties through which other forms of support are transmitted. The gender-segregated nature of social connections may require separate interventions for men and women.

Young Adults’ Conversational Strategies During Negotiation and Self-Disclosure in Same-Gender and Mixed-Gender Friendships

Actor gender and partner gender effects on conversational strategies were investigated among young adult friends during assigned negotiation and self-disclosure tasks. The sample comprised 146 same- or mixed-gender friendship pairs (age range = 17–23) of U.S. undergraduates from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds (52% White, 19% Latinx, 17% Asian, 18% other). Pairs of same-gender friends or mixed-gender friends were assigned a negotiation task and a self-disclosure task while their conversations were video-recorded. Dyadic analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling to assess actor gender and partner gender effects on conversational strategies. During the negotiation task, women were more likely than men were to use affiliative strategies (requests, indirect suggestions, justifications); in contrast, men were more likely to use self-emphasizing strategies (direct suggestions). In the self-disclosure task, women were more likely than men to express self-disclosing statements and to provide reflective listening responses to friends’ disclosures (e.g., elaborations, backchannel interjections) especially in same-gender pairs. In contrast, men were more likely to use distancing responses (e.g., negative comments). Most effect sizes were small. Finally, participants’ ratings of conflict in the friendship were related to the likelihood of some speech strategies in both tasks. Findings highlight the contexts of gender-related variations in language use among young adult friends.

Novel Findings on Gender Differences in Self- Disclosure: The Sharing of Personal Information in Japanese Students’ Close Friendships

Abstract Contrary to common findings on self-disclosure and gender, male students at a Japanese university that were questioned for this study reported significantly higher disclosure to close friends than their female colleagues-overall as well as for various individual topics (N = 479). Two different measures of self-disclosure were used, both yielding similar results. The gender differences were especially pronounced in cross-gender friendships. In accordance with previous literature, subjective feeling of closeness and respondents’ trust in the stability of the friendship were found to be positively associated with self-disclosure. While both closeness and trust in relationship stability were greater in same-gender friendships, no gender differences were found in this regard. The conclusion discusses the possibility of these findings being connected to shifting images of masculinity and femininity among Japanese youth, as well as changing interaction patterns between genders.