Passionate friendships among adolescent sexual-minority women

Adolescent friendships containing the emotional intensity of romantic relationships, yet lacking sexual activity, have been documented in numerous cultures and historical periods. This research explores these relationships among contemporary young sexual-minority women. Phone interviews with 80 lesbian, bisexual, and unlabeled women between 18 and 25 years of age (M = 21.8, SD = 2.1) assessed characteristics of their closest adolescent friendships. Cluster analysis differentiated conventional from passionate friendships, the latter containing more characteristics of romantic relationships. Same-sex friendships were not more likely than cross-sex friendships to be classified as passionate, and passionate friendships were not disproportionately likely to involve sexual attraction. Same-sex passionate friendships were initiated at earlier ages than same-sex conventional friendships, and those that developed prior to a young woman's first same-sex sexual contact were less likely to involve sexual attraction. Future research should investigate the incidence and developmental implications of such relationships among all adolescents.