Gender development and heterosexual romantic relationships during adolescence

Abstract

One of the hallmarks of adolescence is the beginning of romantic relationships. Although many adolescents may either delay heterosexual dating until later years or indicate a preference for same-gender sexual partners, most will begin heterosexual relationships. The way in which adolescent girls and boys begin to relate with one another is apt to be influenced by their experiences in other types of relationships. As Funnan and Wehner (1994, p. 182) recently argued, "adoIescents are likely to be predisposed to respond to romantic partners as they have in other relationships." Moreover, how young women and men relate to one another in their first romantic relationships may lay the foundation for later sexual and nonsexual cross-gender relationships.' Despite the potentially important links between adolescents' romantic relationships and other relationships, surprisingly few comparisons have been made of these different types of relationships (Furman, 1993, p. 94). In an attempt to contribute to our thinking on this topic and possibly stimulate new research directions, this chapter explores ways in which same-and cross-gender friendships may influence the quality of adolescents' and young adults' heterosexual romantic relationships. We also consider how traditional gender development may undermine the emergence of qualities associated with high degrees of satisfaction in romantic relationships.The chapter is divided into four sections. First, we consider some of the practical reasons why it is important to examine adolescent romantic relationships. Second, we consider how children's traditionally gender-segregated peer relationships contribute to miscommunications and power asymmetries in later heterosexual relationships, which in turn may lead to

Gender Subgroups and Intergroup Perception: Adolescents' Views of Own-Gender and Other-Gender Groups

“…Developmental experiences that characterize this period of life, such as the onset of puberty and the initiation of sexual and romantic behaviors, profoundly affect individuals' attitudes, cognitions, and social motivations (Leaper & Anderson, 1997;Ruble, 1994). More specifically, developmentalists have suggested that early adolescents are overly concerned with the social significance of gender and that they face heightened pressures to engage in gender-appropriate behaviors (Hill & Lynch, 1983;O'Sullivan, Graber, & Brooks-Gunn, 2001).…”

Self-Perceived Gender Typicality, Gender-Typed Attributes, and Gender Stereotype Endorsement in Elementary-School-Aged Children

“…For example, by age 8, children are more likely to imitate a same-gender model who has behaved in gender-consistent ways in the past than they are to imitate a model who has previously behaved in a gender-inconsistent manner (Perry & Bussey, 1979). Such gender-identity-based decisions can have ramifications throughout the life course; for example, peer and activity choices in childhood may influence subsequent gender-typed characteristics (Maccoby, 1998;Martin & Fabes, 2001;McHale, Kim, Dotterer, Crouter, & Booth, 2009) and patterns of interaction developed in the context of gendersegregated friendships have been theorized to influence adolescents' behavior in heterosexual romantic relationships (Leaper & Anderson, 1997).…”

Friendships and Romantic Relationships of Black and White Adolescents

“…In childhood, girls and boys often spend little time together in friendship, with negligible learning of the styles of the other gender or skills in relating to them (Maccoby, 1998). This limits the carryover of friendship skills and makes the development of successful romantic relationships more difficult (Leaper & Anderson, 1997). Each gender is likely to confront markedly different communication styles in cross-gender relationships than in same-gender friendships.…”