ABSTRACT
The above quotation from Werking’s 1997 book is still an accurate assessment of the adult cross-sex friendship literature. Although in the last decade a handful of new studies have been added to the slowly growing list of adult cross-sex friendship investigations (e.g., Afifi & Faulkner, 2000; Kaplan & Keys, 1997; Werking, 1992, 1997a), friendship researchers still focus most of their energies on same-sex friendships. Despite the comparatively small size of the adult cross-sex friendship literature, it has much to offer in helping to explicate the major themes and theoretical premise of this book. As I have done in the preceding chapters representing earlier stages of life, presentation and review of the adult cross-sex friendship literature revolves around the three themes of the book. The final section of the chapter is reserved for concluding observations about male-female friendships in adulthood.
