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Cross‐sex friendship in children: Gender patterns and cultural perspectives
Author(s) -
Cohen Jeffrey J.,
D'Heurle Adma,
WidmarkPetersson Viveca
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(198010)17:4<523::aid-pits2310170418>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - friendship , socialization , psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , cognition , neuroscience
An understanding of cross‐sex friendship patterns can highlight male‐female interactions in ways not revealed through investigations of same‐sex friendships. Therefore, children's cross‐sex friendship choices in two cultures were studied to explore culture‐ and gender‐related biases in the socialization of sex roles. Fifth graders in America and Sweden responded to two sociometric questions about help with schoolwork and secret‐sharing. Differences across gender and culture lines provided support for the existence of biases in gender‐role training that may differ among cultures. Questions were raised regarding the role of social agents in the development of social cognitions, the amenability to change of traditional sex‐typed behaviors, and the differences among cultures that might influence social‐cognitive development. The fact that some children make cross‐sex choices suggests that socialization practices do not influence all children uniformly. These differences bear further study.