Avoiding cross-sex friendships

The separability of people with and without cross-sex friends

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21622192
AutoresTobias Altmann (0000-0001-7294-7808, University of Duisburg-Essen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen42
Número12
Páginas10107-10114
Fecha de publicación2023-04-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCurrent Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1046-1310 • E-ISSN: 1936-4733
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12144-021-02315-0
OpenAlexW3198917339
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas34

Prior studies on individual differences in the preference for cross-sex friendships found that this preference was not normally distributed but was instead bimodal. In one group of people, the preferences for higher or lower proportions of cross-sex friendships appear to be normally distributed, whereas in a second and unexpectedly large group of people, the preference for cross-sex friends is exactly zero. If the people in the second group with no cross-sex friends at all actively avoid forming cross-sex friendships, then these individuals may be expected to differ systematically and meaningfully from individuals who report having at least one cross-sex friend. The present study tests this hypothesis. The Big Five, homophobia, physical attraction to the opposite sex, and demographic variables from a data set of 491 adult participants were used as potential predictors of group membership. Results showed that most predictors except the Big Five contributed to supporting the separability of the two groups. Findings are discussed with regard to the differentiation between close and general friends and the potential influence of cultural factors

Cross-cultural · Developmental psychology · Friendship · Preference · Same sex · Statistics · Cultural Differences and Values · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology