Judgment biases and characteristics of friendships of Mexican American andAnglo-American girls and boys

Gender and ethnic patterns in ratings and assessments of four dimensions of friendship qualities it-ere investigated (emotional attachment, support, s hared activities, and conflicts) with 122 Anglo-American and Mexican Americ an early adolescents (63 girls; mean age 10.36 years), as were links betwee n ratings and assessments. Participants named a favorite friend, rated thei r perceptions of the hypothetical behaviors of that friend or an unfamiliar peer in scenarios that varied by actor's intention and outcome of the acto r's behavior on the participant, and completed two measures designed to ass ess friendship quality. Girls, but not boys, rated friends' behaviors as mo re positive than the similar behaviors of unfamiliar peers and reported hig her levels of attachment and support in their friendships. Similar rating p atterns were found for Anglo-American and Mexican American participants. In addition, ratings of friends' behaviors in scenarios that presented neutra l intentions were correlated with the level of emotional attachment reporte d in the friendship.