Conceptions of conflict in close friendships and ways of knowing among young college women: A developmental framework

Researchers have focused only limited attention on conflicts in adults' clo se friendships, and rarely from a developmental perspective. This study exa mined the relationships between young college women's epistemological persp ectives and their conceptions of conflicts with close friends. Twenty-five female college students, most white and middle-class, participated in indiv idual interviews regarding their thinking about knowledge and truth, and co nflicts with close friends. Analyses revealed three distinct patterns of co nceptions of conflicts with close friends that appeared to vary in developm ental complexity. Conceptions of conflicts with friends related strongly an d positively to epistemological understandings. The implications of these f indings for future research on conflicts in close friendships are discussed .