Chapter 14 Textbook Psych Notes

Never Married Single Parents

-A growing number of nonmarital births occur within cohabiting couples, particularly among young adults with low education. -Cohabiting relationships, common among low-SES young adults, are often unstable, contributing to the challenges of single motherhood. -ore than 12 percent of U.S. children live with a single parent who has never married and does not have a partner, with about 90 percent being mothers and 10 percent fathers. Single motherhood is prevalent among African-American young women -Single motherhood generally increases financial hardship, especially for low-SES women, with about half living in poverty. -Many children in single-mother homes, particularly those facing economic disadvantage, exhibit adjustment problems. Children of never-married mothers who lack a consistent father's warmth and involvement may experience less favorable cognitive development and engage in more antisocial behavior. -Adolescents who feel close to their nonresident father may fare better in school performance and emotional and social adjustment than those in two-parent homes lacking a close father tie.

Families with Adolescents

-Adolescence brings sharp changes in parental roles. -Parents must establish a revised relationship with their adolescent children, balancing guidance with freedom and gradually loosening control. -dolescents gain autonomy and explore values and goals in their search for identity. -Parents may feel that their teenager is more focused on peers and less interested in family time. -Parents often report a dip in marital and life satisfaction during adolescence. Many find it challenging to navigate the changes in their relationship with their teenage children. -Some Seek Therapy

Friendships

-Adult friendships often share similarities in age, sex, and socioeconomic status, fostering common interests and experiences. Friends in adulthood contribute to self-esteem and psychological well-being through affirmation, acceptance, autonomy support, and stress support. Trust, intimacy, loyalty, shared interests, and values remain important in adult friendships, akin to adolescence. -Social media use, especially among 18- to 29-year-olds, has expanded friendship networks beyond physical proximity. The impact of online ties formed through social media on adults' lives is not well-understood, with limited research on the subject. Contrary to the assumption that a large number of online friends leads to a decline in intimate friendships, research suggests that individuals with many Facebook friends still engage in one-on-one communication with a relatively small number of close friends.

Consequences of Divorce

-Both men and women immediately after separation experience disrupted social networks, a decline in social support, and increased anxiety and depression. These reactions usually subside within two years. -Nonworking women who organized their identities around their husbands may find it especially challenging, and noncustodial fathers may feel disoriented and rootless due to decreased contact with their children. -Despite loneliness and income drops, women, particularly those in very low-quality marriages, tend to bounce back more easily from divorce -Job training, continued education, career advancement, and social support from family and friends play vital roles in the economic and psychological well-being of many divorced women. -On average, people remarry within four years of divorce, with men remarrying somewhat faster than women. -Remarriages are vulnerable to breakup for several reasons, including practical matters playing a more substantial role in partner choice, negative patterns of interaction transferred from the first marriage, a higher likelihood of viewing divorce as an acceptable solution, and increased stress from stepfamily situations.

Childlessness

-Childlessness among U.S. women in their mid-forties increased from 10 percent in 1975 to 20 percent in 2006, then declined to 15 percent in 2014. -Voluntary childlessness is not always permanent; some decide early, while others, like Beatrice and Daniel, make the decision after marriage. -The voluntarily childless are often highly educated, have prestigious occupations, are committed to their work, and hold less traditional gender-role attitudes. -Voluntarily childless adults are as content with their lives as parents with warm relationships with their children. -Adults who cannot overcome infertility may experience dissatisfaction, ranging from profound disappointment to ambivalence, depending on compensations in other life areas.

Parenting Education

-Contemporary parents actively seek information on child rearing. They access knowledge through various sources, including parenting books, magazines, websites, social media, family members, and networks of other women. -Fathers often have fewer social networks for learning about child rearing compared to mothers. -Marital harmony is crucial for fostering positive engagement with babies, especially for fathers. -Parent education courses aim to help parents clarify child-rearing values -Parent education programs provide social support, offering opportunities to discuss concerns with experts and other dedicated parents who share the view that child rearing is a crucial societal responsibility.

Interventions

-Couples' groups led by counselors are effective in easing the transition to parenthood. -First-time expectant couples participated in a program meeting once a week for 4 to 6 months. -Discussions focused on dreams for the family and changes in relationships due to the baby's arrival. -Results after 18 months: Participating fathers more involved with their child, participating mothers maintained prebirth satisfaction, and marriages intact and as happy as before parenthood. -In contrast, 15% of couples with no intervention had divorced. -Generous, paid employment leave is crucial for parents of newborns. Not widely available in the United States, unlike in industrialized nations. -Financial pressures lead many eligible mothers to take less unpaid leave than guaranteed, and fathers often take little or none.

The Social Clock

-Cultural changes across generations influence the life course. All societies have a social clock with age-graded expectations for major life events. -Among economically better-off young people:Finish education, marriage, and childbirth occur later compared to previous generations. Large departures from social-clock life events are increasingly common. -Young adults may feel distressed if their milestone timing differs from peers or lacks support from current public policies. Lack of shared timing weakens social supports. -While providing flexibility, an ill-defined social clock can leave young adults feeling inadequately grounded. -Following a social clock fosters confidence and social stability. -Guarantees development of skills, engagement in productive work, and increased self-understanding

Cultural Change, Cultural Variation and Emerging Adulthood

-Developing nations, especially with traditional economies, lack emerging adulthood. In industrialized countries, families with financial means support young adults in exploring education, careers, and travel. -Socioeconomic status (SES) strongly correlates with the experience of emerging adulthood. Low-SES youths facing challenges like early parenthood or lack of access to education experience limited or no emerging adulthood. -Some researchers dispute emerging adulthood as a distinct life stage, linking it strongly with SES. -Predictions suggest its potential increase with globalization, assuming gains in higher education and the formation of a common global identity among young people. -Socioeconomic conditions play a significant role in determining the extent of opportunities in emerging adulthood.

Unprecedented Exploration

-Distinct period between adolescence and adulthood. Five defining features: in-between feeling, identity exploration, self-focus, instability, and possibilities. -Young adults explore education, work, and values intensely. -Not fully immersed in adult roles; diverse routes to responsibilities. -College students pursue education in nonlinear ways. -Diverse timing and order of routes to adult responsibilities. -Examples include changing majors, working part-time, interrupting school for work or travel. About one-third of U.S. college graduates enter graduate school. -Broadening of interests, attitudes, and values. -Exposure to multiple viewpoints encourages self-reflection. -Development of a more complex self-concept over time. Increased self-esteem. -Routes to adult responsibilities vary across individuals. -Cultural differences in timing and order of commitments. -Example: Italian emerging adults engage in prolonged exploration encouraged by parents. -Positive association between personal agency and identity exploration.

Divorce and Remarriage

-Divorce rates have declined over the past two decades, partly due to rising age at marriage, which is associated with greater financial stability and marital satisfaction. -The increase in cohabitation has also contributed to lower divorce rates as many relationships that might have resulted in marriage now break up before marriage -Marital failure is more common during the first few years of second marriages, approximately 10 percent higher than for first marriages -Disrupted relationships, ineffective problem-solving styles, and weakened attachment contribute to divorces. -Communication patterns, such as the demand-withdraw pattern, can be problematic, with women more often demanding change and men more often retreating. -A nine-year longitudinal study found that the strongest predictors of divorce include infidelity, spending money foolishly, drinking or using drugs, expressing jealousy, engaging in irritating habits, and moodiness. -Poorly educated, economically disadvantaged couples facing multiple life stresses are more likely to divorce.

Levinson's Seasons of Life

-During the transition to early adulthood, most young people construct a dream—an image guiding their decision-making in the adult world. For men, the dream often emphasizes career achievement, while career-oriented women may have "split dreams" with both marriage and career prominence. -Young adults form relationships with mentors, often senior colleagues at work or more experienced friends, neighbors, or relatives, to facilitate the realization of their dreams. -Men oriented toward high-status careers spend their twenties acquiring professional skills, values, and credentials. Many women's career development extends into middle age. -Around age 30, those preoccupied with career and single often focus on finding a life partner. Women who emphasized marriage and family may develop more individualistic goals. -Men usually "settle down" by focusing on specific relationships and aspirations to establish a niche in society consistent with their values. -Women may remain unsettled, adding occupational or relationship commitments. -Men focus on specific relationships and aspirations to establish a niche in society, such as wealth, prestige, artistic or scientific achievement, or family and community participation. Many women remain unsettled in their thirties, often due to added occupational or relationship commitments.

Childhood Attachment Patterns and Adult Romantic Relationships (textbook reading)

-Early attachment bond leads to an internal working model. Internal working model guides close relationships throughout life. -Adult evaluations of early attachment experiences are related to parenting behaviors and romantic relationships in adulthood. -1. Secure Attachment: Warm, loving, and supportive parents. Internal working models reflect security. View themselves as likable, comfortable with intimacy, and rarely worry about abandonment. Behaviors are empathic, supportive, and with constructive conflict resolution strategies. At ease in seeking comfort and assistance from partners. Report mutually initiated, enjoyable sexual activity. -2. Avoidant Attachment: Demanding, disrespectful, and critical parents. Internal working models stress independence, mistrust of love partners, and anxiety about closeness. Convinced others dislike them; believe romantic love is hard to find and rarely lasts. Display jealousy, emotional distance, lack of support, and little enjoyment of physical contact in relationships -3. Resistant Attachment: Parents who responded unpredictably and unfairly. Internal working models seek complete merging with another person. Worry that intense intimacy may overwhelm others who do not truly love them. Love relationships marked by jealousy, emotional highs and lows, and desperation. Offer support in ways that fit poorly with partner's needs.

The Decision to Have Children

-Factors Influencing Parenthood Decision: financial circumstances, personal and religious values, career goals, health conditions, supportive government -Traditional gender identity correlates with a higher likelihood of choosing parenthood for women. -Women in demanding careers are less likely to choose parenthood and often delay it. -Personal rewards: warm relationships, care, and teaching opportunities. -Social returns: affirmation of adult status, potential caregiving support. -Future continuity and someone to carry on. -Parenthood as a gratifying opportunity to share a challenging life task and deepen relationships. -Despite increased freedom, about 35% of U.S. births result from unintended pregnancies

Vaillant's Adaptation to Life

-Followed nearly 250 men born in the 1920s. -Selected from a competitive liberal arts college. -Extensive interviews in college and questionnaires in each decade. -Periodic interviews at ages 47, 60, 70, and 85. -Twenties:Focus on intimacy concerns. Thirties:Shift to career consolidation. Forties:Emphasis on generativity. Fifties and Sixties:Extension of generativity, becoming "keepers of meaning." Late Adulthood:More spiritual and reflective about the meaning of life. -Vaillant's study with well-educated women identified a similar series of changes.

Cohabitation

-For some, cohabitation serves as preparation for marriage, allowing couples to test their relationship and get used to living together. -For many, it is an alternative to marriage, offering rewards of intimacy and companionship with the option of easy departure if satisfaction declines. -Americans have become increasingly favorable toward cohabitation, with over 60 percent expressing approval. -Couples transitioning from cohabitation to marriage are at a slightly greater risk of divorce than those who marry directly. -Legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. in 2015 led many same-sex cohabiters to transition to marriage. -Cohabiting couples may encounter difficulties due to the lack of legal marital obligations.

Identity Development

-Investigation with 6,000 university students across cultures reveals a dual-cycle model. -Students cycle between in-depth evaluation and reconsideration until certain of choices. -Shifts between identity statuses explained: From in-depth exploration to commitment results in higher well-being and adjustment. -Students spending much time exploring without commitments tend to be poorly adjusted with health-compromising behaviors. -Life aspects like marriage, parenthood, religious beliefs, and career paths increasingly left for individuals to decide.World -Making enduring commitments may take longer in some cultures. In Italy, young people often live at home until around age 30, delaying identity commitments until marriage. Italians engage in an extended moratorium, supported by parents, encouraging freedom to experiment with identity alternatives. Italian emerging adults with prolonged, in-depth exploration tend to be better adjusted than counterparts in other cultures.

Erikson's Theory: Intimacy vs. Isolation

-Key conflict in early adulthood focusing on making long-term commitments to an intimate partner and cultivating close friendships. -Late teens to mid-twenties often express unreadiness for lasting romantic ties due to concerns about career, financial security, and emotional readiness. -Without intimacy, young adults may face loneliness and self-absorption. -Erikson emphasized that a secure identity fosters intimacy. Studies show positive correlations between identity achievement and fidelity and love in relationships. -Identity moratorium (exploration without commitment) is negatively associated with fidelity and love. -Advanced identity development strongly predicts involvement in deep, committed love partnerships. -Those with a sense of isolation hesitate to form close ties, tend to compete rather than cooperate, and are not accepting of differences. -Erikson believed that successful resolution of intimacy versus isolation prepares the individual for the middle adulthood stage, which focuses on generativity—caring for the next generation and helping to improve society. -Aspects of generativity, like contributions to society through work and community service, are underway in the twenties and thirties. -High friendship or romantic intimacy predicts a stronger generative orientation.

Families with Young Children

-Lack of societal supports for children and families highlights a low priority on parenting in some cultures. Changing family forms contribute to significant differences in the lives of today's parents compared to past generations. -Various influences on child-rearing styles, including personal characteristics of children and parents, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and the couple's relationship. -Major struggles for employed parents include finding good child care and dealing with emergencies. -Younger children pose greater challenges, especially for low-income parents without workplace benefits, facing immediate concerns about their children's safety. -Parents report expanded emotional capacities, increased life meaning, and enhanced psychological well-being. -Involved parents note increased tolerance, self-confidence, responsibility, and broader social ties.

Risk ad Resilience in Emerging Adulthood

-Many young people flourish in emerging adulthood, solidifying beliefs, succeeding in education, and launching careers. -A significant number struggle with persisting low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, poor academic performance, and risky behaviors. -Longitudinal research identifies personal attributes and social supports as crucial for successful passage through emerging adulthood. -Resources promoting resilience play a key role in navigating this life stage. -Relationships with parents significantly impact adaptive functioning in emerging adults. -Secure, affectionate parent-emerging adult bonds contribute to favorable self-esteem, identity progress, academic success, and rewarding relationships. -Autonomy-supportive parenting, recognizing the young person's decisions and encouraging valued choices, is linked to psychological well-being. -Parental overprotection, psychological control, and excessive involvement hinder adaptive development. -Helicopter parenting, characterized by excessive concern and involvement, is associated with reduced school engagement and interferes with independent skill acquisition. -Exposure to multiple negative life events, such as family conflict, abusive relationships, romantic breakups, academic or employment difficulties, and financial strain, can impact emerging adults negatively.

First and Second Births

-Marriages that are already gratifying and supportive tend to remain so. -Troubled marriages often become more distressed after childbirth. -Postponing childbearing until the late twenties or thirties eases the transition to parenthood. -Waiting allows couples to pursue occupational goals, gain life experience, and strengthen their relationship. -Men are more enthusiastic about fatherhood, and women are more likely to encourage husbands' involvement in housework and childcare. -A second birth requires fathers to take a more active role in parenting, caring for both the firstborn and the newborn. -Well-functioning families with a second child often shift from traditional division of responsibilities.

Marital Satisfaction

-Men generally report slightly higher happiness in marriages than women, especially in distressed marriages where women are more likely to express dissatisfaction and seek professional help. -Marital satisfaction is influenced by equal power in the relationship and sharing family responsibilities, enhancing both partners' satisfaction and strengthening marital harmony. Attribution, or explanations for a partner's behavior, plays a crucial role in marital satisfaction. Partners who hold positive illusions about each other's attributes tend to be happier in relationships. -Individuals who feel devalued by their partner may react with anxiety and insecurity, leading to criticism, contempt, and emotional disengagement, ultimately eroding intimacy. -Marital relationships can become contexts for intense opposition, dominance-submission, and emotional and physical violence, with both men and women playing roles as perpetrators and victims. -Family life education courses can promote better mate selection and teach communication skills for gratifying romantic partnerships and marriages. -Counseling focused on understanding, empathy, positive traits, and effective conflict-resolution strategies can contribute to resilient and enduring relationships.

Marital roles

-Mixed marriages, involving partners from different racial or ethnic backgrounds, have become more common, comprising 12 percent of new marriages in the United States. -Age at marriage is a consistent predictor of marital stability, with those marrying in their teens to mid-twenties having a higher likelihood of divorce. -Despite progress in women's rights, traditional marriages with clear role divisions still exist, but many have evolved with women returning to the workforce later. -Egalitarian marriages involve equal sharing of power and authority, with partners balancing time and energy among work, children, and the relationship. -Men in dual-earner marriages participate more in child care, but women still spend nearly twice as much time on housework in the United States and European nations. -In same-sex couples, egalitarian relationships with equal sharing of authority and household tasks are more common than in other-sex relationships. True equality in heterosexual marriages remains rare, with most couples achieving a marriage form between traditional and egalitarian.

Selecting a Mate

-Partners typically meet in places where they share age, education, ethnicity, religion, and through online dating services. People tend to select partners with similar attitudes, personality, education plans, intelligence, mental health, physical attractiveness, and even height. -"Opposites attract" is not strongly supported; partners who are similar tend to be more satisfied and stay together. -Women value financial status, intelligence, ambition, and moral character more. Men prioritize physical attractiveness and domestic skills. -Women seek traits ensuring children's survival and well-being. -Men look for traits signaling youth, health, sexual pleasure, and ability to care for offspring. -Attributes contributing to relationship satisfaction are mutual attraction, caring, dependability, emotional maturity, and a pleasing disposition. -For romance to lead to a lasting partnership, it must happen at the right time. Relationship dissolution is likely if one or both partners do not feel ready for marriage.

Lesbian and Gay Parents

-Recent estimates suggest that about 20 to 35 percent of lesbian couples and 5 to 15 percent of gay couples are parents. -In the past, laws assumed that gay men and lesbians could not be adequate parents, leading to custody challenges when divorcing a heterosexual partner. -Majority of U.S. states now hold that sexual orientation is irrelevant to custody or adoption, reflecting changing attitudes and the increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage.

Worldview

-Research questions the "generation me" stereotype suggesting self-centered worldviews. -Controversy exists regarding whether young people display greater narcissism and materialism. -A million-dollar scenario survey reveals the balance between prosocial and self-centered responses. -Studies show conflicting views on generational changes in egotism and related traits. -Some suggest an increase in narcissism and materialism among Millennials, while others argue changes are insignificant. -Age-related gains in self-esteem are consistent across generations, with today's young people not showing higher self-esteem than past cohorts. -Importance of attaining material wealth has not risen among college students over the past three decades. -Survey indicates that enjoying work is considered more important than making a lot of money.

Singlehood

-Singlehood, not living with an intimate partner, has increased, especially among young adults. -The rate of never-married Americans aged 25 and older has more than doubled since 1960. -More young-adult men than women are single, but women are more likely to remain single for extended periods or their entire lives -Ethnic differences exist, with higher rates of never-married individuals among African Americans. High unemployment among black men interferes with marriage, and African Americans tend to marry later. -Singlehood can be a deliberate choice, circumstantial, or a result of not finding the right person. -Single men have more physical and mental health problems than single women. -Women find it easier to come to terms with their lifestyle, partly due to greater social support through same-sex friendships. -Early thirties can be stressful as friends marry, and individuals become mindful of their departure from societal marital expectations.

Step Parents

-Stepparents face a challenging position, entering the family as outsiders and often moving into their new parental role too quickly. Lacking a warm attachment bond to build on, stepparents may find their discipline ineffective, leading to criticisms from both sides. -Stepmothers, especially those living in the same residence as stepchildren, are likely to experience conflict. -Stepmothers may have an idealized image of family life shattered, and they are often expected to be in charge of family relationships. -After divorce, biological mothers can be jealous and uncooperative, adding stress to stepmothers. Stepmothers may feel guilty about their "unmaternal" feelings. -Stepfathers with their own children may establish positive bonds with stepchildren more readily, especially stepsons, possibly due to experience in building warm parent-child ties. -Stepfathers without biological children may have unrealistic expectations, and pressure from wives to assume the father role can lead to negativity from children.

The Family Life Cycle: Joining of Families in Marriage

-The average age of first marriage in the United States has increased, with women marrying around age 27 and men around age 29 today, compared to approximately 20 for women and 23 for men in 1960. -Only 16 percent of contemporary U.S. 18- to 29-year-olds are married, a significant decrease from 60 percent half a century ago. -Postponement of marriage is more pronounced in Western Europe, where the average age of marriage has risen to the early thirties. -The number of first and second marriages has declined as more people choose to stay single, cohabit, or not remarry after divorce. -Same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide in various countries, and while research on these marriages is limited, evidence suggests that factors contributing to happiness are similar to other-sex marriages. -Husband-wife roles are gradually moving toward true partnership in education, occupation, and emotional connectedness. -Same-sex couples benefit from acceptance by parents, inclusion in family events, and living in supportive communities for relationship satisfaction and durability.

The Family Life Cycle: Leaving Home

-The average age of leaving the parental home has increased since the 1960s, with financial dependence being a common reason for young adults living with their parents in the twenty-first century. -Departures for education typically happen at younger ages, while those for full-time work and marriage occur later. U.S. young adults from divorced, single-parent homes tend to leave home earlier, and fewer leave home to marry compared to the previous generation. -Factors such as role transitions, job markets, housing costs, mental health, and failures in work or love can lead to temporary returns to parents' homes. -ES and ethnicity influence the extent to which young people live on their own before marriage, with higher education and employment correlating with independent living. -Parents of young adults living at home provide various forms of support, and intense support is associated with positive outcomes for the young adults. -Homes where parents and young adults live together may experience increased conflict over personal and moral values, but secure attachment and preparation for independence lead to more satisfying interactions and successful transitions. -Resistantly attached young adults may struggle with healthy separation, remaining in the parental home for an extended time. -Early departure from home can have long-term disadvantages, such as lack of parental support, job seeking instead of education, and earlier childbearing, particularly for non-college-bound and poverty-stricken youth.

Components of Love

-Three components shift in emphasis as romantic relationships develop:Passion: Desire for sexual activity and romance.Intimacy: Emotional component involving warm communication, caring, self-disclosure, and a desire for reciprocity.Commitment: Cognitive component leading partners to decide they are in love and maintain that love. -At the beginning, passionate love (intense sexual attraction) is strong. -Over time, passion declines in favor of intimacy and commitment. -Forms of love:Companionate Love: Warm, trusting affection and valuing of the other.Compassionate Love: Concern for the other's well-being, expressed through caring efforts to alleviate distress and promote growth. -Intimacy and commitment in compassionate love strongly linked to relational happiness and long-term plans. -Commitment may be crucial in determining whether a relationship survives. -Transformation from passionate to companionate and compassionate love involves commitment. -Commitment in ways that strengthen intimacy predicts relationship maintenance and satisfaction. -Communication of commitment through warmth, attentiveness, understanding, acceptance, and respect is crucial. -Men may be less skilled at communicating in ways that foster intimacy and are often less effective in conflict resolution.

Is Emerging Adulthood Really a Distinct Stage of Development (textbook reading)

-Trends like higher education enrollment, delayed career entry, and later marriage and parenthood began in the 1970s and have evolved gradually. -Adulthood has never been attained at a distinct moment; transitions occur multidimensionally and multidirectionally. -Individuals may move back home after college or change careers, reflecting the lifespan perspective on development. -The term "emerging adulthood" doesn't apply to the majority of the world's youths, especially in developing countries. -In developing nations, traditional routes to adulthood involving early marriage and parenthood are more prevalent. -Economic factors, such as unemployment and underemployment, contributed to delayed entry into adult roles. -Critics emphasize a decline in age-graded influences, suggesting that emerging adults are part of a general trend toward blurring age-related expectations. -Nonnormative influences play a significant role in contemporary adulthood, leading to increased diversity in development throughout the adult years.

Partner Abuse

-Violence in families is a widespread health and human rights issue, occurring in all cultures and SES groups. -Different forms of domestic violence, including physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, are often linked. -Rates of assault experienced by men and women are similar when directly asked, with women victims more often physically injured. -Partner abuse occurs at similar rates in same-sex and other-sex relationships, with reasons for abuse including gaining control, expressing anger, and getting attention. -Dominance-submission in abusive relationships can proceed from husband to wife or vice versa, and in at least half of cases, both partners are violent. -Violence-remorse cycles, where aggression escalates, characterize many abusive relationships. -Factors related to partner abuse include personality and developmental history, family circumstances, and cultural factors. -Victims of partner abuse may stay in destructive relationships due to economic dependence, fear of harm, or false beliefs about the abuser changing. -Intervention and treatment for partner abuse include community services for battered women, therapy for perpetrators focusing on gender stereotyping and behavior change, and whole-family treatment for those who don't want to separate.

Different Types of Friendships

-Women generally have more intimate same-sex friendships than men, often characterized by a preference for conversation among female friends and a preference for activities among male friends. -Barriers to intimacy in male friendships include competitiveness and reluctance to disclose weaknesses. -Women tend to evaluate their same-sex friendships more positively than men, but they also have higher expectations, leading to potential disapproval if expectations are not met. -Family roles influence reliance on friends, with single adults preferring friends as companions and confidants. -Intimate same-sex friendships contribute to psychological well-being through warmth, social support, and self-disclosure. -Other-sex friendships offer opportunities for companionship, self-esteem, and learning about different styles of intimacy. -Platonic other-sex friendships may turn into romantic bonds, potentially leading to stable and enduring relationships. -Siblings, especially sisters, become more frequent companions in adulthood, with roles often merging between friends and siblings. -Positive family experiences contribute to close and important adult sibling ties, resembling friendships in terms of contact, social support, and enjoyment.