Janice R. Kelly

Sexual Communication, Satisfaction, and Condom Use Behavior in Friends with Benefits and Romantic Partners

Although “friends with benefits” relationships (FWBRs) are common and have been the subject of significant media and research attention, relatively little is known about them, especially in terms of how they differ from other types of relationships. The present research sought to compare the sexual outcomes of FWBRs to those of traditional romantic relationships via an online survey. Results revealed that FWBR partners were less likely to be sexually exclusive, had a lower frequency of sexual interaction, were less sexually satisfied, and generally communicated less about sex than romantic partners did. However, compared to romantic partners, FWBR partners devoted relatively more of the time spent together to sexual activity, practiced safe sex more frequently, communicated more often about extradyadic sexual experiences, and reported a greater number of lifetime casual sex partners. These findings indicate that the sexual outcomes of FWBRs and romantic relationships are quite distinct and provide evidence of the potential public health implications associated with both casual and committed sexual relationships.

When door holding harms: gender and the consequences of non-normative help

This work explored the potential negative consequences of unexpected help. A behavioral observation and a survey study found that men are unlikely to have the door held open for them in a chivalrous manner, whereby they walk through the door before the person helping them does. In an experimental field study, passersby were randomly assigned to experience this type of door-holding help or not. Males who had the door held for them in this manner by a male confederate reported lower self-esteem and self-efficacy than males who did not have the door held for them. Females were unaffected by door-holding condition. These results demonstrate negative consequences of seemingly innocuous but unexpected helping behavior that violates gender norms.

Public opinions of biofuels: attitude strength and willingness to use biofuels

Most surveys of public opinion regarding biofuels focus on overall evaluations, but not all support or opposition is created equal. Some opinions are more consequential than others. The current article discusses the literature on attitude strength and presents the results of a national survey of United States citizens. Attitudes predicted a willingness to purchase biofuels and flexible-fuel vehicles, especially when the attitudes were associated with high levels of knowledge or low levels of ambivalence. Therefore, overall support or opposition for biofuels does not provide a complete picture of public opinion. If consequential support for biofuels and related technologies is to be developed, attention must be paid to features of the opinions that predict lasting impact.

Interaction in Small Groups

This chapter reviews both current and classic research on small group interaction. The chapter begins with a brief review of the primary methods used to study small groups. This is followed by a discussion of research on power, status, and leadership, reviewing research on role differentiation, the development of status structures, and theories of leadership. A discussion of inclusion and exclusion processes in groups follows, including research on cohesiveness and social identity versus ostracism, social rejection, and schisms in groups, as well as a discussion of majority and minority influence. The final content section reviews motivation and coordination processes in groups, including social facilitation and social loafing, transactive memory systems, and information exchange. In concluding statements, we note that research on small groups has moved beyond the previous disciplinary boundaries of social psychology to fields such as organizational behavior, education, and industrial engineering, and this move has added topics of interest to the more traditional social psychological and sociological explorations of status and power.

The Cognitive Costs of the Counter-Stereotypic: Gender, Emotion, and Social Presence

We explored the concurrent and subsequent cognitive consequences of the experience of gender counter-stereotypic emotions. Participants experiencing gender counter-stereotypic emotions were expected to display less emotional expression and demonstrate poorer cognitive performance when in the public condition than when in the private condition. Seventy-one women and 66 men completed an anger- or sadness-inducing task privately or publicly. Participants completed two cognitive tasks: one during and one after the emotion-induction task. Participants exhibited poorer performance during and following gender counter-stereotypic emotions only in the public condition. Direct evidence for greater suppression of gender counter-stereotypic emotions in the public conditions was not obtained. These results suggest that the same public emotional events may be differentially cognitively depleting depending on one’s gender, potentially contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes.

With a little help from your friend: Transactive memory in best friendships

Transactive memory is a system for encoding, storing, and retrieving information between people, where each person has knowledge of the other’s memory. Through two studies, we assessed whether transactive memory occurs in best friendships (N = 682). Results showed that transactive memory systems (TMSs) do exist in best friendships. Importantly, stronger TMSs are associated with higher friendship quality (satisfaction and commitment), and their strength is related to different friendship characteristics (e.g., trust). A novel method for assessing TMS structure was developed. Mixed-gender friendships were associated with more differentiated structures (different knowledge), and friendships higher in inclusion of other in the self were associated with more integrated structures (similar knowledge). These studies have implications for the quality and operation of friendships.