Friendship: Communication and interactional patterns in same-sex dyads

Based on the classic work of Georg Simmel on dyadic intimacy and dependency and more recent work on self-disclosure, this study uses subjective accounts to compare same-sex dyadic friendships. Past research has neglected the important dimension of content. Thus, a major purpose was to specify three content levels of communication — topical, relational, and personal — and to determine sex differences in the range and primacy of these levels. In addition, seven interactional factors were identified: spontaneous communication, trust, nonverbal communication, dependency, shared value systems, conflict, and competition for power. The data reveal that women relate on all three levels, while men relate primarily on the topical level. Overall findings on the seven interactional factors reveal high congruence with traditional gender stereotypes. A serendipitous finding for both male and female dyads is that a particular individual is of less importance than a particular type of friendship. This suggests that friendship in modern society may be more tenuous than Simmel contended.

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