Rivaly Among College Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore behaviors and characteristics of college women within the context of their relationships with their female friends, peers, and colleagues. Specifically, the study addressed unacknowledged feelings and covert behaviors directed toward women. In opposition to the frequently commended characteristics of women such as collaborating and nurturing, experiences reported by the subjects of this study describe their female peers, and sometimes themselves, as covertly malicious. Rivalry, unlike competition, surrounds women and has the potential to penetrate every relationship women have with other women regardless of the context of the relationship. By collecting data from college women at a large, research, state-affiliated university, this exploratory study employed grounded research methodology (Glaser & Straus, 1967) to develop a theoretical image of the rivalrous woman.