292 Chapter 8Prejudice and school diversity are related to
cross-race friendship.
Friendship is especially important to
gay/lesbian/bisexual persons because they
receive less support from family members.
Gay/lesbian/bisexual persons value the same
qualities in a friendship as do heterosexuals.
And, friendships with gay/lesbian/bisexual
persons are similar to friendships with
heterosexuals. The communal/agentic
dimensions of friendship used to evaluate
heterosexual friendship do not apply to
homosexual friendship. Sexuality plays a
greater role among the friendships of gay
men. Because of the potential for sexual
attraction, studies of friendship among
gay men and lesbians may benefit from
comparisons to cross-sex friendship among
heterosexuals.
Friendships at work are
increasingly common. Despite the
concerns that organizations often have
about fraternization among employees,
there is evidence that friendship at work
is good for productivity. Work presents
opportunities for cross-sex friendships
but the challenges of cross-sex friendship
remain. Friendships at work face
some difficulties due to the inherent
conflict between the roles of friend
and coworker.
The study of friendship is greatly
limited by its focus on middle-class White
people. Interesting differences appear in the
nature of friendship due to ethnicity, social
class, and cultural ideology. Friendship
also is affected by age and by stage in the
life cycle—being married, having children,
working. All these factors influence the
availability of friends as well as the place of
friendship in life.more conflict. Women and men handle
conflict somewhat differently in their
friendships. Women are more likely to
confront conflict directly with the intent
of resolution and in a way that does not
harm the relationship; men raise the issue
of conflict, but with less concern about its
effect on the relationship.
An emerging area of research is cross-
sex friendship. Although cross-sex friends
are not as common as same-sex friends,
cross-sex friendship is not unusual. Cross-
sex friendship is most common among
young adults and least common among
children and older adults. Social norms
and structural barriers discourage children
from playing with the other sex, discourage
married adults from spending time with
the other sex, and inhibit the elderly from
developing relationships with the other
sex. Women rate same-sex friends as closer
than cross-sex friends. However, men are
sometimes closer to cross-sex friends than
same-sex friends. Cross-sex friendship can
serve important functions for women and
men, such as insight into the other sex,
a source of emotional support for men,
and relief from the intensity and conflict
of same-sex friendship for women. A
number of barriers to cross-sex friendship
have been postulated, but little empirical
evidence indicates these barriers actually
pose serious difficulties with the exception
of romantic/sexual attraction. Some
evidence suggests this is more of a problem
for men than for women. Data are meager
on the outcome of cross-sex friendships:
Do they last, dissolve, or evolve into
romantic relationships?
Cross-race friendships are more
common among children than adults.M08_HELG0185_04_SE_C08.indd 292 6/21/11 8:12 AM