Close friendship in adulthood: Conversational content between same-sex friends

Abstract

This study was designed to examine ongoing close friendships among same-sex adults. An analysis of frequency and depth of conversational topics was undertaken. The self-reports of female participants showed that they converse more frequently than the male participants about intimate topics and daily and shared activities. Sex differences on depth of topic discussion also emerged, with females reporting greater depth in topics involving personal and family matters. Sports was the only topic for which males, rather than females, reported both more frequent discussion and conversation in greater depth. The topic frequency data were factor analyzed for each sex group. The factor analyses indicated patterns for the males on "personal issues," "sociocultural issues," and "activity" and patterns for females on "domestic matters," "personal issues," and "worldly issues." The results of the study generally support sex-stereotypical assumptions about the nature of male-male and female-female conversations. © 1983 Plenum Publishing Corporation.