ABSTRACT
In this chapter I review the research on gender and friendship, the majority of which focuses on heterosexuals and same-sex friends. Same-sex relationships of women are closer than those of men, largely due to an increased emphasis on self-disclosure. Women’s friendships have been described as emotion-focused or communal, whereas men’s have been described as activity-focused or agentic. Closeness in male-male friendship is limited by overt competition, homophobia, and emotional inexpressiveness. Cross-sex friendships are increasingly common and change over the course of the life span, with the highest prevalence occurring in adolescence and young adulthood. Cross-sex friendships have some unique challenges, including the audience challenge (i.e., concern with how relationship is viewed by others) and the sexual/romantic interest challenge. Whereas women are closer to their same-sex than cross-sex friends, men are sometimes closer to their cross-sex friends than same-sex friends. There is less research on friendships across race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. To the extent this research does exist, people look for the same features in a friendship—companionship, loyalty, trust—regardless of category. Friendships at work are common, and benefit work in both an instrumental and affective way. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how structural events influence friendship across the life span.
