GENDER AND CLOSENESS AMONG FRIENDS AND SIBLINGS

Friendships and sibling bonds are often the most enduring relationship s in a person's life. This study examined what makes each relationship close and how gender and type of relationship affect the ways in whic h closeness is manifested. Contrary to previous research on American s tudents, respondents in the present study did not indicate that they w ere closer to their friends than their siblings. Rather, closeness eme rged as a function of similarity in friendships and as a function of d ependability in sibling dyads. Similarly, women and men reported that their relationships were equally close; however, closeness was manifes ted differently for each.