Adolescents' sex-typed friendship experiences: Does having a sister versusa brother matter?

This study examines the connections between having a sister Versus a brothe r and coming from a same-sex versus an opposite-sex sibling dyad and the de gree of sex-typing in adolescents' friendship experiences, including the qu alities of their friendships (i.e., intimacy, control) and their friends' p ersonal attributes (i.e., sex-typed leisure interests, expressive and instr umental personality qualities). Participants were 159 firstborn-secondborn adolescent sibling pairs (M = 14.94 years and M = 12.43 years, respectively ) and a close friend of each sibling (N = 636, including siblings and frien ds). Data were collected during home visits with siblings and telephone int erviews with friends of siblings. The results suggested that sisters may le arn control tactics from their brothers that they apply in their friendship s; boys, however, were less likely to model the emotional intimacy that cha racterized their sisters' experiences with friends. In addition, coming fro m an opposite-sex sibling dyad was linked to sex-typing in friends' persona l attributes, particularly their masculine leisure interests and instrument al personality qualities. Sisters and brothers may provide unique opportuni ties to learn about sex-typed relationship experiences in early adolescence , a time when gender segregation in the peer context is pervasive.