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. 2012 May-Jun;83(3):844-63.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01734.x. Epub 2012 Feb 24.

How girls and boys expect disclosure about problems will make them feel: implications for friendships

Amanda J Rose  1 , Rebecca A Schwartz-Mette, Rhiannon L Smith, Steven R Asher, Lance P Swenson, Wendy Carlson, Erika M Waller
Affiliations

How girls and boys expect disclosure about problems will make them feel: implications for friendships

Amanda J Rose et al. Child Dev. 2012 May-Jun.

Abstract

Although girls disclose to friends about problems more than boys, little is known about processes underlying this sex difference. Four studies (Ns = 526, 567, 769, 154) tested whether middle childhood to mid-adolescent girls and boys (ranging from 8 to 17 years old) differ in how they expect that talking about problems would make them feel. Girls endorsed positive expectations (e.g., expecting to feel cared for, understood) more strongly than boys. Despite common perceptions, boys did not endorse negative expectations such as feeling embarrassed or worried about being made fun of more than girls. Instead, boys were more likely than girls to expect to feel "weird" and like they were wasting time. Sex differences in outcome expectations did help to account for girls' greater disclosure to friends.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
For Studies 1–3, numbers in the figures represent standardized beta coefficients in regression analyses. Betas for the relations between expectations and disclosure were computed controlling for sex. For Studies 1–3, numbers in parentheses are standardized betas computed in regression analyses in which sex predicted disclosure while expectations were controlled. For Study 4, the numbers are standardized parameter estimates from multilevel models rather than standardized betas from regression analyses. In all studies, girls were coded as “0”s and boys were coded as “1”s. †p = .07. **p < .01. ****p < .0001. Panel 1. Mediational analyses from Study 1. Expectations as a mediator of the concurrent effect of sex on disclosure. Panel 2. Mediational analyses from Study 2. Expectations as a mediator of the concurrent effect of sex on disclosure. Panel 3. Mediational analyses from Study 3. Time 1 expectations as a mediator of the effect of sex on Time 2 disclosure. Time 1 disclosure was controlled in all analyses. Only adolescents are included in these analyses. Panel 4. Mediational analyses from Study 4. Expectations as a mediator of the concurrent effect of sex on observed disclosure.
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