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Gender of Friend

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Biological sex of friend; Same-sex friend; Cross-sex friend; Opposite-sex friend; Friendship

Definition

The evolutionary origins of why and how friendship differs as a function of the biological sex of friends.

Introduction

Friendship is a relationship between two people based on mutual liking in which partners provide support to one another in times of need. Because it does not require a familial or formal tie, friendship is typically regarded a nonobligatory relationship of choice. Although individuals often choose to enter into and remain in a friendship, friends are expected to have genuine positive regard and concern and provide emotional and instrumental support to each other (Hall 2012; La Gaipa 1977). Characteristics of friendship are very similar across cultures (Hruschka 2010; Terrell 2015). One of the unique qualities of friendship is that it does not follow tit-for-tat exchange. Rather, friends provide aid and support to one another based on need. This challenges...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    J. Hall

Authors
  1. J. Hall
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Hall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Kevin Beaver

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Hall, J. (2017). Gender of Friend. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1600-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1600-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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