Theorists have suggested that adolescents'same-sex peer relations are related to their opposite-sex peer relations. To test this hypothesis, 112 tenth graders were asked to complete sociometric ratings, a perceived social competence questionnaire, and a questionnaire designed to measure empathic perspective-taking and idiosyncratic strategy use. Results indicated that there was a relation between same-sex and opposite-sex measures, but there were sex and target differences. Both same-sex and opposite-sex popularity were more strongly related for boys than for girls. Compared to boys, girls indicated greater empathic perspective taking in their same-sex peer relations, but there was no sex difference for empathic perspective taking in the subjects' opposite-sex peer relations. Compared to girls, boys were more idiosyncratic in their ranking of the effectiveness of the strategies. Finally, popularity and perceived social competence was more strongly related for girls than for boys.
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