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Emotional support is a central feature around which white, middle-class adults organizc their same-sex friendships. The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotional support is accorded the same significance in the friendships of Asian-and African-Americans. Participants included 199 students (60 Euro-American men and women, 80 Asian-American men and womeh and 59 African-American men and women) attending either a state or private university in California. Each participant completed three different questionnaires designed to assess perceptions of (a) the importance of comforting skill in same-sex friendship; (b) the significance of emotion-focused versus problem-focused goals in situations requiring emotional support; and (c) the sensitivity and effectiveness of various comforting strategies. Several significant differences due to ethnicity were found in participants' perceptions of emotional support and its attendant behaviors. These and related findings are discussed in terms of their implifations for the conduct of same-sex friendship among individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.

The present study examined how social skills and interpersonal trust facilitate the support-seeking process in two different cultures, namely, those of China and the United States. Drawing from Sensitive Interactions Systems Theory and attachment theory, the current study examines the connections between social skill, interpersonal trust, the perceived appropriateness of seeking support, and the likelihood of displaying emotional distress to friends. Results indicated both similarities and differences between Americans and Chinese in terms of support seeking. Across both cultural groups, interpersonal trust was associated with appropriate help seeking, which, in turn, predicted the likelihood of showing emotional distress to friends. The two culture groups differed in terms of attenuating displays of distress (showing less than one actually feels). Among Chinese participants, attenuating displays of emotion was seen as positive and was associated with appropriateness. Among European Americans, attenuating displays of distress was negatively associated with appropriateness.

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