Abstract
Research on sex differences in dyadic interactions has largely neglected the effects of sex-role attitudes and has focused on overt behavior to the relative omission of information-gathering and affective responses. In addition to behavioral observations, individuals in same- or opposite-sex pairs completed questionnaires on recall and descriptions of the partners, as well as ratings of liking. It was hypothesized that sex-role attitudes of the participant, his/her gender, and the partner's gender would affect responses. As anticipated, the sex-role-traditional individuals displayed behaviors most consistent with previous research, while sex-role-liberal students exhibited different patterns. Recall and description of the partner were also affected in complex fashion by participant gender, partner gender, and participant sex-role attitudes. Methodological issues were raised, including the possible reactivity of measures of sex-role attitude.
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The authors would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Bruce Painton, Helen Mann, and Dale Sheely in data collection. Jacqueline Goodchilds made many helpful comments.
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Hammen, C.L., Peplau, L.A. Brief encounters: Impact of gender, sex-role attitudes, and partner's gender on interaction and cognition. Sex Roles 4, 75–90 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288378
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288378