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Opposite-Sex Relationships

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

  • 108 Accesses

Synonyms

Opposite-sex friendships; Opposite-sex interpersonal relationships; Opposite-sex peer acceptance

Definition

Interpersonal connections with peers of the opposite sex that are based on the quantity and quality of mutual respect, appreciation, and liking.

Introduction

Research clearly demonstrates the benefits of positive peer relationships for children’s development (Martin and Dowson 2009). Findings show that children who have positive relationships with peers tend to be higher in academic outcomes (e.g., Martin et al. 2009) and personal well-being (e.g., Liem and Martin 2011). Research also shows that opposite-sex and same-sex peer relationships both positively impact children’s development, but often in distinct ways (Liem and Martin 2011). Evolutionary psychology helps shed light on how peer relationships function in children’s lives as well as some of the distinctive ways opposite-sex and same-sex peer relationships impact development. With a focus on opposite-sex peer...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Andrew J. Martin

Authors
  1. Andrew J. Martin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew J. Martin .

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. University of South Carolina - Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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Martin, A.J. (2018). Opposite-Sex Relationships. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2401-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2401-1

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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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