Variability in Goals as a Function of Same-Sex and Other-Sex Contexts

The purpose of the study was to investigate how young adult men's and women's goals for interacting with peers changed as a function of the social situation (working with a same-sex or other-sex peer on a collaborative task). In a within-subjects design, 40 men and 40 women (Mean age = 19.5 years, SD = 2.10) worked with a man and a woman confederate to build a tower of blocks. Participants reported a greater proportion of mutual-participation goals (i.e., goals for working together with others) before the interaction than after the interaction. Men reported a higher proportion of mutual-participation goals in the other-sex context than in the same-sex context. Men and women reported a greater proportion of task-performance goals when working with a same-sex partner than with an other-sex partner. The contextual specificity of gender differences and similarities in goals is discussed.