Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

the nature of gender differences and friendships.
In reality, research demonstrated that both males
and females can have communal relationships
even though women report notedly higher levels
of communality in their friendships (second set
of curves). As for agency, women and men were
found to both have agentic friendships, and there
was considerable overlap between the two groups
here, with men being slightly more agentic (seen
in the third set of curves).
A great deal of research in friendship has
focused on sex differences between males and
females with regard to friendship. In this section,
we’re going to start by looking at some of the
research specifics to same-sex friendships and
then opposite sex friendships. We’ll end this
section discussing a different way of thinking
about these types of relationships.
Communal
Communal
Agentic
For a lot of research, we use the term “same-sex”
to refer to two individuals of the same biological
sex as friends. Gerald Phillips and Julia Wood
argue that there are four primary reasons
Agentic
females develop friendships with the same-sex:
activities, personal support, problem-solving, and Figure 10.6. Communal vs. Agentic
reciprocation. 44 For female same-sex friendships,
the first reason is activity. These are friendships that tend to develop around a specific activity: working
out, church, social clubs, etc. For the most part, these friendships stay confined to the activity itself
and provide a chance for conversation and noncommittal associations. The second reason is personal
support. It’s this second category that many highlight when discussing the differences between female
and male friendships. Personal support involves friendships where an individual has a personal confidant
with whom they can share their deepest, darkest secrets, concerns, needs, and desires. These friendships
are often highly stable friendships and tend to last for a long time. By nature, these friendships tend
to be highly communal, which is why we generally discuss them as a key reason for female same-sex
friendships. Third, all of us have areas where we’re skillful and lack skill. We often develop friendships
with people who have skills that are complementary to our own. Consciously or subconsciously, we
develop friendships with others out of a need to problem-solve in our daily lives. For example, an
information technology specialist may become friends with an accountant. In their friendship, they
provide complementary support: computer help and financial advice. Finally, females tend to view their
friendships as highly reciprocal. They expect to get out of a friendship what they put into a friendship; it’s
a mutual exchange. If a female feels her friend is not putting into a relationship the same amount of time
and energy, she is less likely to keep sustaining that friendship.
As for male-male friendships, research shows us that they’re not drastically different, though their
friendships may be framed differently. They still create friendships because of recreation, personal
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Interpersonal Communication