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Psychology 320: Gender Psychology

Lecture 32

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Invitational Office Hour Invitations, by Student Number for January 7th 11:30-12:30, 3:30-4:30 Kenny 2517

12015079

14052088

25469107

44316081

50496090

65708083

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Announcements

Please note that grades for the December exam are now available on the course website. The mean score on the exam was 67% (SD = 17%, range=28-100%).

David will hold a review session for the midterm exam on Wednesday, January 12th, at 12:00. Please meet David at his office—Kenny, 2514. If you are unable to attend the session and would like to review your exam, you may see David during his office hour or contact David to schedule an appointment to meet.

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If you are not achieving your goals in this course with respect to exam performance, please feel free to meet with me or David. We may be able to provide you with assistance in developing your study strategies.

You may also find it helpful to visit Learning Commons (http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/), an online resource that provides UBC students with access to information on exam preparation, tutoring, on-campus learning workshops, study groups, and technical tools.

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I have posted samples for Option B of the paper on the course website. Option A was not offered in previous years.  Accordingly, at this point, I am only able to provide you with samples for Option B.  

If you would like to discuss your ideas for the paper—Option A or Option B—please feel free to meet with me or David.

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Friendship:

1. Are there sex similarities in friendship?

2. Are there sex differences in friendship?

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1. discuss sex similarities and differences in same-sex friendship.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

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Are there sex similarities in friendship?

• A number of sex similarities in same-sex friendships have been identified:

1. Friendship network size: Mean = 5 – 8 (Urberg et al., 1995).

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2. Desired characteristics:

Affective support more important than instrumental support (Burleson et al., 1996).

Trust and authenticity most important (Parker & de Vries, 1993).

Seek friends with similar characteristics.

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Affective Support vs. Instrumental Support* (Burleson et al., 1996)

Affective Support

Ego support “Makes me believe in myself.”

Conversational “Is easy to talk to in almost any circumstance.”

Conflict management

“Makes me feel like I can be really honest about the things in our relationship that produce conflict.”

Comforting “Can really cheer me up when I’m feeling down or upset.”

Instrumental Support

Referential “Explains things very well.”

Regulative “Makes me see how my mistakes hurt myself as well as other people.”

Narrative “Almost always tells an entertaining joke or an interesting story when we’re together.”

Persuasive “Knows the kinds of things to say to get me to think or act differently.”

* Listed in order, most important to least important.

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3. Sources of relationship satisfaction: Common sources of relationship satisfaction for both sexes include support, enjoyment, and equal power status

(Bank & Hansford, 2000; Fehr, 2000; Reisman, 1990; Veniegas & Peplau, 1997).

4. Relationship knowledge/knowledge of friends (Simpkins et al., 2006).

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Are there sex differences in friendship?

• A number of sex differences in same-sex friendships have been identified:

1. Group size during play: Females tend to play in dyads; males tend to play in groups (Rose & Rudolph, 2006).

2. Best friends: Females are more likely than males to report having a best friend and to be “clique”

members (Urberg et al., 1995).

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3. Self-disclosure:

Females engage in greater self-disclosure with same-sex friends than males (e.g., Buhrmester & Furman, 1987; McNelles & Connolly, 1999; Sheets & Lugar, 2005).

Sex differences in self-disclosure appear in childhood and are consistent across age groups:

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Grade 2 Grade 5 Grade 8

Girls 2.83 3.26a 3.79a

Boys 2.95 2.76b 3.19b

Mean Intimate Disclosure Scores in Same-Sex Friendships for Girls and Boys by Grade

(Buhrmester & Furman, 1987)

Scores in a column with distinct superscripts are significantly different.

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Mean Intimate Disclosure Scores in Same-Sex Friendships for Women and Men

(Sheets & Lugar, 2005)

4.74.84.9

55.15.25.35.45.55.65.7

United States Russia

Women

Men

Intim

ate

Dis

clos

ure

Sco

res

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Friendship:

1. Are there sex similarities in friendship?

2. Are there sex differences in friendship?