The study described revealed gender differences in adolescents' patterns of overt and covert interpersonal social behaviors. Females' overt behaviors were more competent in terms of greater eye contact, situationally appropriate self-expressiveness, and adoption of independent stances. Males were more likely to respond in an inappropriately…

An in-depth interview format was used to explore gender and age differences in friendship patterns. Groups described friendship in superficially similar ways. However, in the taped interviews, large gender differences appeared that followed conceptually along instrumental/expressive dimensions. Age differences also appeared. (Author/ABB)

Power dependence theory and anticompetitive theory/sex strategy research were used to study a power v a socialization perspective. Results indicate that neither theory adequately explains perceptions or behavior in mixed sex groups. A sex stratification perspective can illuminate societal reasons for sex differences. (Author/GC)

Commuter students completed the Interpersonal Conflict Questionnaire which asked about four interactions involving hostility ranging from silent anger to physical violence. Results showed that intense episodes typically occurred longer ago, and most opponents were known for more than a year. Intense episodes were more likely to occur at one's own…

Investigates 57 three- to five-year-old children's sharing of preferred and nonpreferred food with same-sex peers as a function of (1) whether or not the children had previous experience as recipients and (2) whether or not the child was shared with during the experience as a recipient. (HOD)

Examined the relations of preschool and kindergarten children's responses to hypothetical social problem situations expressed through puppet interaction to the children's general social behavior at school, behavior in potential social conflict situations, and temperamental characteristics. Children's enacted friendliness and aggression were…

Presents data from a study of assimilative and accommodative discourse devices in the speech of 24 preschool children and 24 middle-childhood youngsters (12 boys and 12 girls in each group) in grades 3 and 6. Boys' discourse, regardless of age, contained more accommodative devices, whereas girls' discourse contained more assimilative devices. Some…

Examined the effects of sex and Machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns in 166 students who completed a questionnaire assessing several dimensions of friendship relations. As hypothesized, a significant sex-Machiavellian interaction was observed, suggesting that self-disclosure may be a manipulation strategy for females. (JAC)

Argues that behavioral differentiation of the sexes is minimal when children are observed or tested individually. Sex differences emerge primarily in social situations resulting in social styles that place females at a disadvantage in interactions with males. The role of the nuclear family in the development of these styles is discussed. (FMW)

Many human behaviors (e.g., cognitive, moral, and psychosocial) follow predictable developmental patterns or stages. The study reported examined the interpersonal development of 9- through 13-year-old children. A total of 282 children were administered the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior Children (FIRO-BC) test to…

The development of self-disclosure within an acquaintance exercise was examined. A sample of 80 subjects was assigned to same-sex or mixed-sex dyads. In half of the dyads, one member was asked, through a short statement in the written instructions, to encourage maximal disclosure in his/her partner. Dyad partners took turns discussing…

Previous research findings were used in this study to develop and compare categories of the commonly used tactics and motives of sexually aggressive college women and men. In the collaborative work, 43% of the men and 26% of the women said they had perpetrated at least one act of sexual persistence. Based upon the reports of sexual targets,…

Outlines an explanatory framework for psychological sex differences, one that is anchored in the new theoretical paradigm of evolutionary psychology. This paradigm rejects the dichotomy between biology and environment and provides a new metatheory of why sex differences exist, where they exist, and in what contexts they are expressed. (GR)