The present study investigated the associations among specific friendship qualities, friendship jealousy, and relational aggression among ninth graders. Friendship qualities and gender were explored as potential moderators of the association between relational aggression and friendship jealousy. Seventy-two participants completed self-report questionnaires about the characteristics of their closest friendship and their proneness to experiencing friendship jealousy. Regression analyses revealed significant main effects of intimate exchange and companionship and recreation in predicting friendship jealousy, but the results did not suggest that friendship qualities and gender act as moderators of the relationship between friendship jealousy and relational aggression. A significant three-way interaction among relational aggression, validation and caring, and friendship jealousy did emerge, and there were significant gender differences in particular friendship qualities. Findings are discussed in light of a a traditional friendship development framework as well as more recent approaches to understanding gender differences in friendship behaviors and expectations.

Keywords: friendship jealousy, friendship qualities, relational aggression