The relations between friendship quality, ranked-friendship preference, and adolescents' behavior with their friends

Fifty-two girls and 28 boys and their same-sex friends rated the quality of their friendship, ranked their preference for this friendship relative to other friendships, and participated in a videotaped discussion. Boys and gi rls significantly differed in perceived-friendship quality and observed beh avior with friends. Specifically, girls rated their friendship quality more positively and less negatively and they showed more positive and less nega tive behavior in interaction with their friends than boys. No sex differenc es emerged in the relation of perceived-friendship quality to adolescents' own behavior and to their friend's behavior. Ranked-friendship preference w as also significantly related to behavior, albeit to a lesser extent than p erceived-friendship quality. The potential mechanisms underlying adolescent s' friendship experiences are discussed.