Friendship 293
Discussion Questions
- Whose relationships are closer:
men’s or women’s? Why? - How should we determine the an-
swer to the previous question? How
would you define a friend? - What role do self-disclosure and
shared activities play in men’s and
women’s friendships? - What person and situation variables
influence self-disclosure? - What inhibits men’s self-disclosure
to other men? - Why are females’ relationships con-
sidered to be more fragile than those
of males? - Discuss competition in the context
of friendship. Do you believe that it
is healthy or unhealthy?
8. Describe how the way a culture con-
strues the roles of women and men
could affect their friendships.
9. In what ways are cross-sex friend-
ships similar to and different from
same-sex friendships? - What are the challenges that cross-
sex friendships face? - What does the research on same-sex
friendship and cross-sex friendship
lead you to predict about friendship
among gay men and lesbians? - What are some critical normative
life events that affect friendship? Are
the effects for women and men the
same? - How do marriage and work affect
men’s and women’s friendships?
Suggested Reading
Elsesser, K., & Peplau, L. A. (2006). The
glass partition: Obstacles to cross-sex
friendships at work.Human Relations, 59,
1077–1100.
Galupo, M. P. (2009). Cross-category friend-
ship patterns: Comparison of heterosexual
and sexual minority adults.Journal of Social
and Personal Relationships, 26,811–831.
Rose, A. J. (2007). Structure, content,
and socioemotional correlates of girls’
and boy’s friendships.Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 53, 489–506. Special Issue on
Gender and Friendship.
Wright, P. H. (2006). Toward an expanded
orientation to the comparative study of
women’s and men’s same-sex friendships.
In K. Dindia & D. J. Canary (Eds.),Sex
differences and similarities in communica-
tion (2nd Ed.) (pp. 37–57). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Key Terms
Audience challenge—Concern that cross-
sex friends have about how their relationship
is viewed by others.
Autonomy versus connectedness—Conflict
encountered by friends at work when the
regular exposure to one another required
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