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Culture and Gender Differences in the Perception of Friendship by Adolescents
Author(s) -
Verkuyten Maykel,
Masson Kees
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/002075996401089
Subject(s) - friendship , collectivism , psychology , social psychology , perception , individualism , individualistic culture , context (archaeology) , ethnic group , developmental psychology , set (abstract data type) , sociology , neuroscience , paleontology , biology , political science , anthropology , law , computer science , programming language
This study examines personal collectivism and individualism (or allocentrism and idiocentrism) in relation to the perception of same‐sex friendships among adolescents living in a multi‐ethnic context in the Netherlands. Respondents originally from collectivist cultures were more allocentric than respondents originally from individualist cultures. Among the former group allocentrism was unrelated to idiocentrism, whereas a negative relation was found among the latter group. Allocentrism was related to a greater sensitivity to friends, using more ascribed features in describing friends, having fewer friends but seeing their relationship as closer, perceiving less intimacy with other‐than‐best‐friends, and endorsing rules about relations with third parties more. Idiocentrism was related to less sensitivity to friends, using more personal characteristics in describing friends, but also to having fewer friends, talking less intimately with others, and endorsing friendship rules about intimacy less. Additionally, gender had independent effects on the perception of friendship, suggesting that cultural and gender differences cannot be characterized by the same set of features.