The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

288 Chapter 8

the number of cross-sex friends increased over

the next four years, but more so for girls than

boys (Poulin & Pedersen, 2007). As shown in

Figure 8.9, girls and boys had a similar num-

ber of cross-sex friends in sixth grade but girls

had more cross-sex friends than boys in grades

7 through 10. In college, there is more op-

portunity for cross-sex friendships due to the

availability of potential friends and the similar

status that men and women hold in college.

More than chronological age, life events

affect friendship. Getting married, becoming

a parent, building a career, retiring, and wid-

owhood are all examples of structural issues

that may influence friendships for women

and men. Some of these life events are more

likely to be experienced by one sex than the

other or are more likely to have an effect on

the friendships of one sex than the other. For

Cross-sex friendship increases from

childhood to adolescence. In childhood, cross-

sex friendship is rare, perhaps because children

do not have the opportunity to make friends

with members of the other sex. At times, girls

and boys are pitted against each other. In

school, there may be the boys’ lunch line and

the girls’ lunch line. Often, teams are formed

by having the girls compete against the boys.

In addition, children, especially boys, are often

teased if they play with the other sex. During

adolescence, girls and boys begin to interact

more with each other and to form friendships

with the other sex. Some of those friendships

will evolve into romantic relationships, and

some will remain platonic. Cross-sex friend-

ship increases during adolescence and peaks in

later adolescence and young adulthood. A lon-

gitudinal study of sixth graders showed that

FIGURE 8.9 Boys and girls have the same number of cross-sex friends in 6th

grade but girls have more cross-sex friends than boys in grades 7 through 10.

Source: Adapted from Poulin and Pedersen (2007).

Number of Cross-Sex Friends

Grade

Female

Male

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

0.5

0

6 7 8 9 10

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