Relationships
A. Friendships
Female-Female Friends
• The importance of female friendships.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry
with your girlfriends. - Laurie Kuslansky
• Intimacy between friends.
– Face to face versus side to side distinction.
– Women disclose more to their same sex
friends, but this is a small effect.
– Women are more likely to be the recipient of
disclosure.
– Women tend to have smaller circles of friends.
Female-Female Friends
(cont.)
• African American friendships.
– Less relational aggression?
• Lesbian friendships.
– “Family of Choice”
Male-Female Friends
• Have more obstacles.
– Attraction.
– Misunderstood by others.
• These friendships don’t tend to be as
intimate.
• Varies as a function of sex role identity.
Relationships
B. Romantic
Relationships
Attraction
• Reciprocal liking.
• Similarity.
• Physical attractiveness.
• Familiarity.
Dating Scripts
• Script is a standard set of expectations for what will
happen during an event.
• Most people continue to have fairly traditional dating
scripts.
• Online scripts.
• Gay and lesbian scripts.
• Older singles.
Types of Love (Robert
Sternberg)
• Components.
– Intimacy = Feelings that promote
closeness & connectedness.
– Passion = "State of intense longing for"
– Commitment = Dedication to maintaining
the relationship.
• Seven Kinds of love.
Relationships
C. Motherhood
The phrase "working mother" is redundant. - Jane Sellman
Motherhood
• The motherhood mystique.
1. Fulfillment as a woman depends on being a
mom.
2. All jobs assigned to moms fit logically
together.
3. A woman must like being a mom at all times.
4. A mom’s Intense, exclusive devotion to her
kids is a good thing.
Motherhood cont…
• Is pregnancy stigmatizing?
– Helping behaviors.
– Attitudes toward pregnant women.
• The “Pregnant Brain”
– Henry & Rendell, 2007
– Kinsley, 2008