Abstract
To level the playing field when comparing men's and women's friends in number and closeness, a sample of men and women with approximately equal amounts of responsibility in the public sphere and equal amounts of private commitment in terms of dependent children was obtained. Survey responses from 59 men and 61 women as voluntary participants from similar occupational settings were grouped according to the presence or absence of dependent children. There were no significant differences between those with dependent, older, or no children when it came to numbers of friends, closeness to family, numbers of people who could be asked for help, or statements of concern involving achievement or relationships. Those with no dependent children did report spending significantly less time with their family and being significantly closer to their friends than those with dependent children. This latter observation parallels the one sex difference observed, that of women reporting their friends as closer.
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