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The Use and Interpretation of Tie Signs in a Public Setting: Relationship and Sex Differences

Pennsylvania State University, w-afifi{at}psu.edu

Michelle L. Johnson

College of Wooster

This investigation increases our understanding of the uses of nonverbal tie signs in cross-sex friendships and dating relationships, and addresses the role that these displays play in the experience of these two relationships. Specifically, we (i) observed the behavior of cross-sex friends and daters in college bars (study 1), (ii) asked individuals to assess the reasons why they used affection displays in college bars with either a friend of the opposite sex or a dating partner (study 2), and (iii) asked participants for their perceptions of why their dating partner or cross-sex friend uses affection displays with them when at a college bar (study 3). We examined the influence of sex and relationship type in each of these domains. The results significantly extend past research on tie signs and cross-sex friendships by incorporating observational data of tie signs with sender and receiver perceptions of the functions underlying these observed behaviors.

Key Words: functions • relationship differences • sex differences • tie signs

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 16, No. 1, 9-38 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407599161002


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