Erin M. Rooks

Date of Award

8-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Abstract

Opposite-sex friendships are an area of continued study for children especially in regards to the type of children who encompass opposite-sex friendships and the differences that they have over children who do not, specifically in regards to gender identity and self-concept. Self-concept and gender identity differences were examined in this study between third and fourth grade children (N = 41) who have one or more opposite-sex friendships and those children who have only same-sex friendships. Participants were from an area school in the Midwest with a population of approximately 10,000 people. Participants were asked to make a list of children they would like to invite to a birthday party, which was used to assess friendships they currently have. Participants were then asked to take a self-concept assessment and a gender identity assessment. Differences in the two assessments were investigated using a two-way ANOV A and a two-way contingency table analysis based on whether or not the participants listed an opposite-sex friend on his/her list or only same-sex friends.

The results did not seem to indicate that opposite-sex friendships impacted a child's self-concept or gender identity, which was shown in the lack of significant effects in the interactions of opposite-sex friendships with gender identity and self-concept. The results did indicate a gender main effect on the feminine gender identity scale, which resulted from the girls scoring significantly higher than the boys on the feminine scale. However, there was no such significant gender main effect on the masculine scale with the boys being no more masculine than the girls. Future research could include the study of societal influences into children's gender identity in regards to their friendship choices.

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