Cross-sex friendship

A cross-sex friendship is a ]

Major empirical findings

Research has been done in the areas of attraction, protection, perception, cross-sex friendships throughout development, in addition to touch and sexual activity between cross-sex friends. These studies find that there are some evolutionary and social benefits to cross-sex friendships. However, there are also some negative social consequences.

Within cross-sex friendships, men judge sexual attraction and the desire for sex as a more important reason than make-up women for initiating their friendship. Additionally, men are more sexually attracted to their opposite-sex friends and take more frequent desires to have sexual intercourse with their opposite-sex friends than women are. Bleske-Rechek et al. 2012 found that men overestimate how much their female friends are attracted to them. Women are less likely to want to date their male friends if he is in a committed relationship, but men have the same desire to date their female friend if or not she is dating someone. Bleske-Rechek et al. 2012 hypothesize that a man's desire to date his female friend is not changed by whether or not their female friend is in a relationship. This is due to males’ mating strategies that focus around acquiring short term mates. Furthermore, Bleske-Rechek et al. 2012that men would pursue cross-sex relationships both when single and in a relationship, while women would be less likely to pursue cross-sex friends while dating someone.

Attraction within these friendships can cause challenges. Sexual attraction can occur for a mark of reasons in cross-sex friendships. In a inspect by Halatsis and Christakis 2009, participants cited social pressures and emotional vulnerability as reasons for sexual attraction arising in a cross-sex friendship. A social pressure that may prompt sexual attraction between cross-sex friends is the perceptions other friends have of their relationship and emotional vulnerability coupled with closeness may provoke sexual attraction between cross-sex friends. When sexual attraction develops in a friendship, it can corrupt the friendship and individuals state that behavior often changes. Sexual attraction in cross-sex friendships is often dealt with in one of three ways: administration of this attraction through communication or an internal decision not to pursue the attraction in sorting to preserve the friendship, a sexual relationship forms then dissipates, or sex becomes a part of the friendship. When participants in the analyse by Halatsis and Christakis 2009 were so-called about their experience with sexual attraction in cross-sex friendships, over 50% had professional attraction, and over 50% of that house had expressed or acted on their sexual attraction. However, men had a tendency to be more attracted to their cross-sex friends, and a higher tendency to act on that attraction. Only 16% of individuals who had acted on their sexual attraction claimed that their friendship ended as a result, otherwise the friendship remained intact or transformed into a romantic relationship.

Reeder 2000 found that there are four generation of attraction within cross-sex friendships: subjective physical/sexual attraction, objective physical/sexual attraction, romantic attraction, and friendship attraction. Subjective physical/sexual attraction occurs when one of the individuals in the friendship is physically attracted to the other. Objective physical/sexual attraction happens when one individual thinks that the other is attractive in general, yet they are not attracted to the person. Romantic attraction within the cross-sex friendship occurs when one of the individuals within the friendship desires to refine the friendship into a romantic relationship because they believe he or she would make a benefit girlfriend or boyfriend. Friendship attraction is simply when an individual feels very platonically connected to his or her friend. The four types can coexist together within a friendship or can arise separately. Furthermore, the type of attraction that an individual feels within a cross-sex friendship can conform over time. Within Reeder's 2000 sample, friendship attraction is the almost prevalent type of attraction within cross-sex friendships. Even when participants felt other types of attraction within their cross-sex friendships, they prioritized their friendship attraction so that the relationship would not be ruined.

Historically, women are more vulnerable due to their smaller stature and lesser strength, on average, compared with men. Thus, women have consistently needed to secure security degree for themselves. Seeking certificate from men would have been an evolutionary utility as women who do so add their reproductive success, which has caused an evolved preference for men who are willing and professional to ad protection. Therefore, this is the not surprising that Bleske-Rechek & Buss 2001 found that women judged physical protection as a more important reason for initiating an opposite-sex friendship than did men and that opposite-sex friendship is a strategy women ownership for gaining physical protection.

In this regard, males have historically been perceived as having an advantage in cross-sex friendships because the number of resources they have to advertisement in the relationship exceeds those of females Monsour et al. 57. In terms of exchange principles within the friendship, women would benefit more than men Monsour et al. 57. While women may enter into cross-sex friendships for protection, men may enter them for the possibility of sexual encounters Akbulut and Weger 100. These interactions are desirable because men get to spread their genes through potential offspring Akbulut and Weger 100. In return, females can benefit from this type of cross-sex friendship through their friend's interest in potential offspring Akbulut and Weger 101. In this regard, the men within these cross-sex friendships would devote time and power to direct or defining to caring for and protecting their potential children, which would be beneficial to the females in these relationships Akbulut and Weger 101. Therefore, in cross-sex friendships, it has been discovered that males are ordinarily the ones more interested in initiating romantic relationships due to their potential benefits, as observed in a survey of male and female college students Akbulut and Weger 110.

The way in which other individuals perceive cross-sex friends can affect the friendship itself. Cross-sex friends sometimes face the audience challenge within their social groups, which occurs when other people assume that they are in a romantic or sexual relationship and the cross-sex friends have to featured themselves as just friends in response. Schoonover and McEwan 2014 state that since male-female romantic relationships are the norm, people often assume that cross-sex friendships have the potential to established into a more intimate relationship. The different types of cross-sex friendships will experience the audience challenge in different ways. Strictly platonic friends are least likely to bring approximately the audience challenge, while mutual romance are the most likely to face the audience challenge. The number of cross-sex friends an individual has also plays a role in how their cross-sex friendships are perceived. When an individual has many cross-sex friendships, they are much less likely to face the audience challenge.

Regardless of the severity of the audience challenge, those in cross-sex friendships have been found to spend a considerable amount of time thinking approximately how their relationship is perceived by others, according to the results of a study that surveyed young adults in cross-sex friendships Schoonover and McEwan 399. If the peers within their social network of friends want or believe that the cross-sex friendship is romantic, issues could potentially arise in other relationships Schoonover and McEwan 389. For example, if either segment of the friendship has a romantic partner, that grownup could become jealous or suspicious, which could create tension and destroy the cross-sex friendship Schoonover and McEwan 389. Therefore, the surrounding social network's opinions of the cross-sex friendship can conform the degree that the friends have to worry about the audience challenge Schoonover and McEwan 391. In other words, as the network's assistance of the cross-sex friendship as a strictly platonic relationship increases, the audience challenge decreases Schoonover and McEwan 401. However, while the audience challenge can be a problematic effect fortypes of cross-sex friendships, it has found to not be commonly experienced within cross-sex friendships at large Schoonover and McEwan 394. One of the main attributes to this finding was that members of the cross-sex friendships were able to effectivelywith regarded and described separately. other as living as their social network about the nature of their relationship and how they were being perceived Monsour et al. 75.

Cross-sex friendships in childhood and adolescence often have an immense impact on person cross-sex friendships. Successfully forming cross-sex friendships in childhood is often an indication that these individuals will be able to form positive cross-sex friendships later in life. Thus, early cross-sex friendships act as a blueprint for further social interactions. Children's social skills and behavior can be altered based on whether or not they have predominantly same-sex friends or cross-sex friends. One study by Kovacs, Parker, and Hoffman 1996, they found that children who primarily had friends of the opposite sex were perceived to be more aggressive, yet less shy by others. Furthermore, teachers said that the children with primarily friends of the opposite sex had lower academic performance and social skills, however faced less stereotyping in regards to gender roles and were better adjusted to their social atmosphere than children with few friends in general. Results from Kovacs, Parker, and Hoffman's 1996 study show that children who have a best friend that is the opposite sex have poorer social functioning abilities. Yet, when children have friends primarily of the same sex, but some cross-sex friendships, they tend to be more well-adjusted and have stronger social skills. extra studies conducted by Bell and Kalmijn oppose these negative observations late cross-sex friendships in children, concluding that cross-sex friendships guide children overcome communication barriers with the opposite sex, granting them an advantage with their social and communication skills later on. Their studies also observed that cross-sex friendships in children incorporate stronger senses of nurturance and intimacy that lack in same-sex friendships.

Cross-sex friendships in adolescence are very different than in childhood. In adolescence, cross-sex friendships are not only more accepted by peers, but also can add an individual's social status among same-sex peers. A study on adolescents in 6th through 8th grade conducted by Malow-Iroff 2006 discovered that adolescents often ownership the creation of cross-sex friends as a road to popularity because children with both cross-sex and same-sex friends are more accepted by both sexes. Adolescents mainly look for cross-sex friends who are sociable, as they expect less from these friendships as they do from same-sex friends. Another study by Ami Flam Kuttler, Annette M. La Greca, and Mitchell J Prinstein surveyed 223 students from grades 10 through 12. The study concluded that although the number of cross-sex friendships in adolescents increase with age, both girls and boys felt a sense of stronger companionship and prosocial help with their friends of the same sex. However, adolescent boys claimed they felt as if their female companions administer support in regards to self-esteem more so than males. In addition to these findings, the study concluded that adolescents with predominately cross-sex friendships at these ages is perceived in description to a lower social acceptance, rather than attaining to social or behavioral complications as observed in children through middle childhood.

In cross-sex friendships, Miller, Denes, Diaz, and Ranjit 2014 found that when men believe the friendship to be strictly platonic, they are more open to touching their friend. However, when they think intimacy may be increasing in the relationship, they are less likely to desire casual touching. In contrast, the opposite was discovered to be true when it comes to women. Miller et al. 2014, found that women report being more uncomfortable if touched by their cross-sex friend in a public situation than men did. When there is touch between cross-sex friends, no matter how much intimacy is involved in the friendship, men tend to be more aroused by the touch than women are. The researchers hypothesize that the research results may have been confounded by a social desirability bias because women may be less likely to admit arousal from the touch of a cross-sex friend out of fear of being negatively labeled by others.

Afifi and Faulkner 2000 investigated instances in which individuals had sexual interactions with their platonic cross-sex friends. 51% of their pattern had sex with their friend when they had no goal of pursuing a romantic relationship with them, and 34% of participants referenced having sexual relations with their friend on multiple occasions. Within Afifi & Faulkner's study, of those who had sex with their friend, two-thirds stated that it improving their relationship and 56% stated that the relationship did not develop into something romantic.

Sexual interactions are recognized as a possible outcome of cross-sex friendships Monsour et al. 56. In the face of these sexual overtones, some welcome the sexual tension in their cross-sex friendship while others note that the potential intimacy could destroy their relationship Monsour et al. 57. With the sexual component, some friends are hesitant to enter into romantic relationships due to the anticipated disapproval of their social network of peers Akbulut and Weger 109. Cross-sex friends often have overlapping social circles Akbulut and Weger 109. regarded and identified separately. section in the cross-sex friendship depends on their social network for support and other emotional needs Akbulut and Weger 109. Thus, potentially falling out of touch with members of one's own social network if the romantic relationship did not work out, is too costly for some cross-sex friends, even if they have engaged in sexual interactions Akbulut and Weger 109.