Gender and closeness among friends and siblings.

Friendships and sibling bonds are often the most enduring relationships in a person's life. This study examined what makes each relationship close and how gender and type of relationship affect the ways in which closeness is manifested. Contrary to previous research on American students, respondents in the present study did not indicate that they were closer to their friends than their siblings. Rather, closeness emerged as a function of similarity in friendships and as a function of dependability in sibling dyads. Similarly, women and men reported that their relationships were equally close; however, closeness was manifested differently for each.