DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS OF SPOUSES AND BEST FRIENDS - DO THEY DIFFER BY SEX AND OR GENDER/

In view of the salutary effects that having one's spouse as one's best friend are said to impart (G. R. Lee 1988; Schwartz 1994), we investi gated the relationship between desired characteristics of a best frien d and of a spouse. Consistent with earlier scholarship in this area we found that desired characteristics overlap considerably for those two roles. We also found that men's and women's selection of characterist ics are highly similar and that having a current same-sex or cross-sex best friend did not modify the characteristics chosen for either best friends or spouses. We discuss these findings in terms of the trend t oward nontraditional gender role identities and expectations in close relationships.