Sex and Gender as Factors in in Romantic Partnerships and Best Friendships

For the majority of people, two key non-kin figures form part of the central support clique that resides at the centre of their social network. These are the best friend and the romantic partner, and both play distinct roles which are of benefit to the individual concerned. However, while the romantic partner will always have been chosen in the context of the mating market, we do not know whether the selection of a best friend occurs within a similar market of competition and assessment. This study used real self-rated attribute data for participants and their best friends and romantic partners to explore: (1) whether best friendships operate within a mating market; (2) whether, once established, they show evidence for positive illusion, projection or competition; and (3) whether assortative mating is present. Further, we considered whether the sex of the best friend relative to the participant influences these results. We found that same-sex best friends have an acknowledged role linked to social connectedness and behaviour, that for same-sex best friends both male and female participants show evidence for homophily or projection rather than mate competition, that neither male nor female participants appear to view cross-sex best friends as potential mates, and that the evidence for ‘assortative mating’ is stronger within best friendships than romantic partnerships regardless of best friend sex. Our results imply that despite a culture of commitment and monogamy, male participants display behaviours within their romantic partnerships which suggest they are still active within the mating market. In contrast, for both sexes the best friendship is unaffected by the mating market and the stability and contentment that characterises best friendships is underpinned by a degree of similarity stronger than that within the romantic partnership.

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The Therapeutic Value of Friendship Between Women

Psychology of Women Quarterly ◽

10.1111/j.1471-6402.1981.tb00589.x ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 495-510 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Sherwin Davidson ◽

Ted Packard

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Literature Review ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Same Sex ◽

Female Friendship ◽

University Women ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends ◽

Therapeutic Value ◽

Best Friendships

This study examined whether a group of 42 university women perceived their best and slight same-sex friendships as therapeutic. Of those subjects, 29 had best friends who also participated in the study. Two paper and pencil instruments were completed by all participants and 10 of the best friend pairs were interviewed. Results of the study indicated that both best and slight same-sex friendships had therapeutic value for women, with best friendships seen as more therapeutic than slight friendships. Rank ordering of the therapeutic factors used as a basis for the study resulted in agreement among subjects on the relative importance of the factors in their best and slight friendships. Subjects and their best friends were also in agreement on the worth and rank orderings of these factors. Background for the study is provided by the literature review which included psychological perspectives on friendship, friendship's therapeutic importance, and sex differences in friendship. An additional perspective on female friendship is offered based on literature and observations outside psychology. Results are discussed in light of these somewhat contradictory perspectives.

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Friendships, Femininity, and Reaction to Affective Arousal

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1996.79.1.183 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 183-190

Author(s):

Marti G. Jacobs ◽

Malcolm D. Gynther

Keyword(s):

Self Report ◽

Profile Of Mood States ◽

Same Sex ◽

Information Sheet ◽

Affective Arousal ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends ◽

Undergraduate Women ◽

Women’S Perceptions ◽

Definition Of

This study examined relations between college women's scores on femininity and their same-sex friendships and how these women's perceptions were influenced by induction of success or failure. 200 undergraduate women described themselves and their best friends on the dominance and submissiveness scales of the Interpersonal Adjective Scales and also completed the Behavioral Self-report of Femininity and a biographical information sheet. Mean ratings of dominance were above average both for self and best-friend ratings, but these two dominance ratings were not significantly correlated. However, women viewed themselves as similar to their best friends on submissiveness characteristics. Highly feminine women described themselves as more dominant than less feminine women. Highly feminine women also experienced less anxiety and fatigue as measured by the Profile of Mood States in response to failure induction than less feminine women. Both sets of results are contrary to expectations, but the behavioral definition of femininity was different from that used earlier.

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Associations between young adults' recollections of their childhood experiences with parents and observations of their interaction behavior with best friends

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025407073536 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 28-37

Author(s):

Katherine A. Black ◽

Cori L. Whittingham ◽

Laura E. Reardon ◽

Jacqlyn M. Tumolo

Keyword(s):

Personal Information ◽

Psychology Students ◽

Adult Attachment Interview ◽

The Other ◽

Future Research ◽

Same Sex ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Mothers And Fathers ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends

Forty-eight introductory psychology students (28 females, 20 males) and their same-sex best friends participated in this study. Based upon a question from the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996), participants wrote five adjectives that described their childhood relationships with each parent. For the four most descriptive adjectives (two for mothers and two for fathers), they wrote about childhood incidents that illustrated those adjectives. Adjectives were evaluated for how positively participants described their relationships with mothers and with fathers; incidents were evaluated for how loving, rejecting, and neglectful mothers and fathers appeared to have been during childhood. Next, best friend pairs participated in a series of videotaped conversation tasks where they discussed unresolved problems. Those who recalled more loving mothers were better able to disclose intimate personal information to their friends and to clearly express their feelings about their problems.Those who recalled more neglectful mothers, on the other hand, were more likely to exhibit heightened emotionality when discussing their problems. Implications for future research are discussed.

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Children's Friendship Concepts and the Perceived Cohesiveness of Same-Sex Friendship Dyads

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1980.47.1.191 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 191-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carl G. Hindy

Keyword(s):

Survival Probability ◽

Age Groups ◽

Concept Development ◽

Stage Model ◽

Peer Relationship ◽

Same Sex ◽

Best Friends ◽

Three Stages ◽

Best Friendships ◽

Interview Studies

A three-stage model of children's friendship concept development was delineated and tested. Derived from previous interview studies, the three stages were: (1) the Unilateral Physicalistic, (2) the Reciprocal Physicalistic, and (3) the Reciprocal Emotional. Cartoon simulations of stressful interactions between same-sex pairs of children described alternately as best friends or as acquaintances were presented to 149 girls and 129 boys in Grades 1 through 8. Three sets of cartoons were employed, each modeled on behaviors expected to pose threats of termination of friendship at one of the three stages. In two tasks, the children judged the relative cohesiveness or survival probability of the three simulated relationships. Since children at each of three age ranges judged the friendship whose “threats” were hypothesized to be germane to their own friendship concerns as least cohesive, the three-stage model was supported. Girls perceived greater cohesiveness in “best friendships” than did boys; all three age groups distinguished between “best friends” and the less intense form of peer relationship, judging the former to be more cohesive.

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Associations of Early Adolescents’ Best Friendships, Peer Groups, and Coolness With Overt and Relational Aggression

The Journal of Early Adolescence ◽

10.1177/0272431619874400 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 828-856

Author(s):

Joy Huanhuan Wang ◽

Sarah M. Kiefer ◽

Nicholas David W. Smith ◽

Liang Huang ◽

Hannah L. Gilfix ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Relational Aggression ◽

Peer Group ◽

Peer Groups ◽

First Year ◽

School Students ◽

Best Friend ◽

Best Friends ◽

Relationally Aggressive ◽

Group Members ◽

Best Friendships

This study examined associations of best friend and peer group aggressive characteristics with students’ overt and relational aggression, and whether coolness moderated these associations across the fall and spring of the first year in middle school. Students ( N = 174; 57% females) self-reported best friendship and peer group members, as well as peer-nominated coolness and aggression (overt, relational). Results indicated positive relations of best friend and peer group aggressive characteristics with subsequent aggression, and that coolness moderated these associations. Specifically, non-cool youth had higher levels of subsequent overt and relational aggression with aggressive best friends, but lower levels of later relational aggression when in relationally aggressive peer groups. In contrast, cool youth had lower levels of subsequent relational aggression with relationally aggressive best friends, but higher levels of later relational aggression when in relationally aggressive peer groups. Implications for examining multiple peer contexts and coolness during early adolescence are discussed.

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Body Build Satisfaction and the Congruency of Body Build Perceptions

Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal ◽

10.2224/sbp.1979.7.1.77 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 77-80

Author(s):

Norman Hankins ◽

Roger C. Ailey

Keyword(s):

Female Body ◽

Rating Scale ◽

The Body ◽

Same Sex ◽

Body Build ◽

Best Friend ◽

Female Subjects

Female subjects were classified as satisfied (n = 15) or dissatisfied (n = 15) with their body build and were administered the Somatotype Rating Scale. The SRS allowed subjects to rate their own body build, their wished for body build, the typical female body build, and the body build of a same-sex best friend and a dating partner. Compared with dissatisfied subjects, satisfied subjects showed greater congruency between their own and wished-for body build, and greater congruency between their own and friend/date body builds, but less congruency between their own body build and the female body build stereotype.

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Sex and Gender Similarities and Differences in Communication Values in Same-Sex and Cross-Sex Friendships

Communication Quarterly ◽

10.1080/01463370902889455 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 224-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Amanda J. Holmstrom

Keyword(s):

Sex And Gender ◽

Same Sex ◽

Gender Similarities ◽

Similarities And Differences ◽

And Gender

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Conflicts Within the Anglican Communion

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199664153.013.36 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Jane Shaw

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Gay Marriage ◽

First Century ◽

Sex And Gender ◽

Same Sex ◽

The West ◽

Same Sex Couples ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

And Gender ◽

The Church

The churches of the Anglican Communion discussed issues of sex and gender throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Arguments about gender focused on the ordination of women to the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate. Debates about sexuality covered polygamy, divorce and remarriage, and homosexuality. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, these debates became intensely focused on homosexuality and were particularly fierce as liberals and conservatives responded to openly gay bishops and the blessing and marriage of same-sex couples. By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the sex and gender debates had become less acrimonious, the Anglican Communion had not split on these issues as some feared, but the ‘disconnect’ between society and the Church, at least in the West, on issues such as the Church of England’s prevarication on female bishops and opposition to gay marriage, had decreased the Church’s credibility for many.

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