Girlfriends and Boyfriends Diverging in Middle Childhood and Coming Together in Romantic Relationships

This conclusion to this special issue on gender and friendships considers how these studies confirm, challenge, and extend the two cultures (Maccoby, 1998) and emotional trade-offs (Rose & Rudolph, 2006) perspectives. An intriguing but rarely tested feature of the two cultures framework is that gender segregation and the different peer cultures that result might lead to challenges when girls and boys come together in romantic relationships in adolescence and adulthood. This conclusion highlights the possible implications of gender differences in friendships in middle childhood for emerging romantic relationships in adolescence