Women do not shy away from competition: Competition in same-gender and cross-gender friendship dyads

ABSTRACT

This study explored gender differences in competition within friendships of emerging adults. In a sample of 118 same and cross-gender friendship dyads, we used a quasi-experimental design to examine how people competed with friends and reacted to this competition when completing a task in both competitive and noncompetitive conditions. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling approach to data analyses, we found that in the noncompetitive condition, men and women competed more with same-gender than with cross-gender friends. In the competitive condition, however, both men and women behaved more competitively with male than with female friends. Interestingly, while men reported more stress when competing with cross-gender friends, there was no difference in reported stress for women, regardless of the gender of the friend with whom they were competing. The findings indicate that both the specific and general social context in which competition occurs are important in determining whether gender differences are observed.

KEYWORDS:

• Friendship
• competition
• gender
• gender differences
• gender roles

Disclosure statement

Researchers have followed all the institutional and general ethical guidelines during the completion of this study. We did not have a funding source and there was no conflict of interest related to this manuscript. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/36x8e/.

Open scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Materials. The materials are openly accessible at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TWZV3.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mahzad Hojjat

Mahzad Hojjat is a Professor of Psychology at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Her primary research interests include competition, transgression, resilience, and forgiveness in romantic relationships and friendships.

Brian Ayotte

Brian Ayotte is an Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. His research interests include health and social relationships, as well as emerging adulthood.

Madeleine Page

Madeleine Page received her master’s in psychology from University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and her Ph.D. in in social psychology from University of Delaware.  Her research focuses on interpersonal relationships. She is currently employed in the private sector.

Emily Beauparlant

Emily Beauparlant completed her master’s candidate in psychology at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Her primary research interests include friendships and romantic relationships. She is now a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University.

Clare Mehta

Clare M. Mehta is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Emmanuel College in Boston, MA.  Her research focuses on how sex, gender, and related social processes influence adolescents’ and young adults’ beliefs and behaviors.