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Competition, Coping, and Closeness in Young Heterosexual Adults’ Same-Gender Friendships

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Abstract

We investigated young adults’ experiences with competition in same-gender friendships. Participants were 494 heterosexual undergraduates (M = 19 years; 76% female) from a variety of self-identified ethnic backgrounds who were attending a California, U.S. public university. They completed an online survey about their relationship with their closest same-gender friend. Measures included evaluations of friendship quality as well as perceptions of friendship competition in four domains: peer relations (shared friendships), romance, academics, and sports. Also, individuals rated their level of distress and likely use of proactive (confronting, seeking social support) and passive (distancing) coping in relation to each domain of friendship competition. On average, men reported more friendship competition in all domains than did women. Women were more likely than men to report distress regarding competition in the peer and academic domains; also women were more likely than men to endorse proactive coping across all domains. Thus, average gender differences were found in responses to competition and coping in friendships. At the same time, SEM analyses revealed proactive coping mediated the associations between distress over competition and friendship closeness in parallel ways for women and men in each domain.

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Acknowledgements

Jessica McGuire is now a Research Associate at Syracuse University. The research was supported by grants to Campbell Leaper from the Academic Senate of the University of California, Santa Cruz. We thank Rachael Robnett, Timea Farkas, and Antoinette Wilson for their comments and suggestions.

Author Contributions

Both authors collaborated in all aspects of the study. However, JM was more responsible for formulating the study’s research questions, devising the measures, and conducting the SEM statistical analyses; whereas CL was primarily responsible for writing the report and for conducting the other statistical analyses. Both authors approved the final manuscript.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Room 277 Social Sciences II, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Jessica E. McGuire & Campbell Leaper

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  1. Jessica E. McGuire
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  2. Campbell Leaper
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Correspondence to Campbell Leaper.

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McGuire, J.E., Leaper, C. Competition, Coping, and Closeness in Young Heterosexual Adults’ Same-Gender Friendships. Sex Roles 74, 422–435 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0570-1

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