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Sex Differences in Same-Sex Friendships

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Friendship and Social Interaction

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Social Psychology ((SSSOC))

Abstract

The essential difference between male and female same-sex friendships, in words Paul Wright (1982) has used to describe it, is that female friendships are “face to face” whereas male friendships are “side by side.” These phrases capture the frequently replicated finding that female friends like to “just talk” and view this activity as central to their friendship. Females compared to males also describe their talk as more intimate and more self-disclosing. Male friends, on the other hand, prefer to do things together other than “just talking.” They share activities, such as sports, where their attention is focused on the same goals but not on one another.

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Authors
  1. Barbara A. Winstead
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, 23508, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

    Valerian J. Derlega  & Barbara A. Winstead  & 

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Winstead, B.A. (1986). Sex Differences in Same-Sex Friendships. In: Derlega, V.J., Winstead, B.A. (eds) Friendship and Social Interaction. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4880-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4880-4_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9344-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4880-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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