Two studies examined sex differences in the same-sex friendships of college men and women. In a questionnaire study, self-reports were obtained of number o f friends and frequency of interaction, typical and preferred kinds of interactions with friends, and emotional intimacy. A role-play study provided more direct information about conversations between friends. Men and women did not differ in quantitative aspects o f friendship such as number of friends or amount of time spent with friends, nor in the value placed on intimate friendships. However, clear sex differences were found in both studies in the nature of interactions with friends. Women showed emphasis on emotional sharing and talking; men emphasized activities and doing things together. Results are discussed in terms of life-cycle constraints on friendship, and the possibility of sex differences in standards for assessing intimacy in friendship is considered.

http://www.baomee.info/pdf/Friendships/3.pdf

Sex differences in same-sex friendship

This paper discusses the role of ideologies of love and intimacy in heterosexual coupledom, and examines the applicability of theories of the gender division of `emotion work' to the field of intimate personal relationships. Research on the private sphere of the family has recently focused on quantifying instrumental aspects of relationships, such as financial management, the domestic division of labour and informal care. However, although fruitful, such approaches neglect the expressive or emotional; particularly the experiences of love and intimacy, which many people say they regard as a key element in their personal relationships. We suggest reasons for British sociology's neglect of what is almost a cliche in everyday discourse. And we present evidence (including preliminary findings from our own research on heterosexual couples) that - despite dissatisfaction with gender inequalities in domestic tasks and finance - many women express unhappiness primarily with what they perceive as men's unwillingnes...

Love and Intimacy: The Gender Division of Emotion and `Emotion Work'

This study examined the content of adults' stereotypes about sex differences in both the experience and the expression of emotions and investigated how these beliefs vary with the age of the target person. Four hundred college students (200 men and 200 women) judged the frequency with which they believed males or females in one of five age groups (infants, preschoolers, elementary schoolers, adolescents, and adults) typically feel and express 25 different emotions. It was found that adults' gender-emotion stereotypes held for both basic and nonbasic emotions and appear to be based on a deficit model of male emotional expressiveness (i.e., a belief that males do not express the emotions they feel). Moreover, these beliefs about sex differences in emotionality refer primarily to adolescents and adults. It was concluded that gender-emotion stereotypes are complex and that there may be an age-of-target bias in the evaluation of others' emotions.

Gender and Age Stereotypes of Emotionality

Male Sex Role Conflicts, Sexism, and Masculinity: Psychological Implications for Men, Women, and the Counseling Psychologist

A model of interpersonal physical violence is derived from the aggression literature and then is utilized to investigate interspousal violence. The model posits that verbal aggression is a catalyst to violence when societal, personal, and situational factors are strong enough to produce a hostile predisposition. Unless aroused by verbal aggression, a hostile disposition remains latent in the form of unexpressed anger. The framework suggests that persons in violent, marriages are more verbally aggressive than other people, and also produces the counterintuitive prediction that violent spouses are less argumentative than people in nonviolent marriages. A study is reported which compared clinical cases of abused wives and abusive husbands to a nonclinical population of husbands and wives. Strong support for the hypothesis was observed. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of understanding communication in violent marriages.

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Charles W. Peek

Papers

The Inexpressive Male: A Tragedy of American Society.