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Siblings' Motives for Talking to Each Other
The Journal of Psychology
Abstract
The sibling relationship is an involuntary one that individuals often maintain throughout life (V. G. Cicirelli, 1995; M. A. Fitzpatrick & D. M. Badzinski, 1994; P. Noller & M. A. Fitzpatrick, 1993). The authors investigated interpersonal communication motives in sibling relationships to examine the way in which siblings voluntarily maintain their relationships with one another over time. R. B. Rubin, E. M. Perse, and C. A. Barbato (1988) identified 6 primary motives that people have for communicating: affection, control, escape, inclusion, pleasure, and relaxation. Participants were 323 individuals who reported on why they communicated with 1 of their siblings. The authors found differences between male and females participants and between intact and nonintact families. The number of siblings and the birth order of siblings also appeared to affect motives for communicating. The authors discuss the implications and limitations.
... Previous research has focused on the sibling dyad when looking at birth order. For example, Rocca, Martin, and Dunleavy (2010) focused on the types of relationships the different sibling dyads experience. They found that sister-sister sibling dyads communicated for inclusion. ...
... They also found that first born children reported communicating more for control while the other birth order positions reported communicating for pleasure, inclusion, and relaxation (Rocca et al., 2010). It has been found that men who grew up with a sibling of the same sex are significantly more extraverted while women who grew up with a sibling of the same sex are significantly more conscientious (Szobiova, 2008;Tucker et al., 1997). ...
... More surprisingly was the finding that birth order had no impact on any of the six subscales of the LSRS. This contradicts previous research (e.g., Rocca et al., 2010) that showed that birth order can impact siblingships. Additionally, those with married parents believed there was more positively in the adult sibling relationships versus those with divorced parents. ...
... Although the factors affecting sibling relations in early childhood lose their influence over time, they may still be effective in young adulthood. Regarding many variables on sibling relations, the followings are influential: culture and socioeconomic level (Fulmer, 1987), the gender of the individual (Brook, 1997;Pulakos, 1990;Wagner et al., 1985), number of siblings (Bossard & Boll, 1956;Newman, 1996;Prime, Pauker, Plamondon, Perlman, & Jenkins, 2014), birth order (Bleske-Rechek & Kelley, 2013;Doron, 2009;Pollet & Nettle, 2009;Wagner et al., 1985;Rocca, Martin, & Dunleavy, 2010), sibling's gender and age difference (Brook, 1997). Among these variables, examining the combined interaction of gender, birth order, and the number of siblings on the sibling relations of young adults and expressing these effects with their reasons will be an essential step in interpreting sibling relations. ...
It is a very important step to consider the variables that affect sibling relationships together. This study aimed to determine the effects of the variables Birth Order (First, Middle, and Last), Gender (Female, Male), and Number of Siblings ("two or three" and "four or more"), which have been suggested to affect sibling relationships in the literature, in young adults. The family is one of the essential components of society. What makes the family is the interaction and communication between mother, father, and children. Sibling relations are an essential part of these. Sibling relations play an important role in individuals' cognitive, mental and social development. It is the research defined to examine relationships. "Lifelong Sibling Relations Scale'' was directed to 735 university students in the study. Data were collected from students attending a university in Turkey. The interaction of three variables for the subdimensions of the scale and the total scores obtained from the scale were examined separately. Aligned rank transformation ANOVA (ART anova) was used since there were three different independent variables in the study and the values did not show normal distribution. In order to carry out the research, it used the R statistics program and ARTool package. As a result of the research, while the median values of the scores in both the total and subdimensions of sibling relationships did not differ according to the interaction of the three variables, a significant difference was found in sibling relationships according to birth order, which is one of the main effects. When the three variables are considered together, it is observed that the highest sibling relationship for both the total score and the sub-categories belongs to female students who were born in the first place and have two or three siblings. It has been observed that individuals with four or more siblings born in the middle have the lowest scores in sub-dimensions except adult cognition. In this study, gender, birth order, and the number of siblings, which is seen to affect sibling relations of young adults in the literature, and the interactions of these variables are discussed. A scale consisting of six subdimensions and an overall score for lifelong sibling relations was used in the study. The differentiation of the total score obtained from the scale and its sub-dimensions according to the variables was analyzed.
... This study explores bereaved siblings' stories about how siblings' drug use problems affected their family relations. The literature has viewed sibling relationships as distinctive in many ways (Dunn, 1983;Rocca et al., 2010;Spitze & Trent, 2018). Sibling relationships can have multiple elements, such as friendship, biological attachment, shared family stories, and equal status (Connidis, 2010;Spitze & Trent, 2018;L. ...
Family members’ problematic drug use is challenging for siblings affecting their well-being and their relationships within the family. Research about siblings living with brothers or sisters’ problematic drug use and research on bereaved siblings’ experiences indicates that life situations and support needs for both minor siblings and adult siblings can easily be overlooked, both in practice and in research. This article contributes to this knowledge gap by examining how siblings provide meaning to their sibling’s drug use problem and how they position themselves and other family members accordingly. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and fourteen bereaved siblings were interviewed. A narrative thematic analysis was chosen, and four themes were generated. These four themes, (1) Surviving difficult family life, (2) The relationships in continuous change, (3) It’s worse for the parents, and (4) “We”, as a synonym for the family, are presented in this article. Our findings demonstrated how complex and multifaceted siblings’ stories about living with their brothers or sisters’ ongoing drug use are. This study calls for more attention to siblings’ situations. Siblings’ lives are affected by their brothers or sisters’ problems, and siblings should also be involved in routine support and treatment practices.
... Siblings are typically our longest lasting relationship (Rocca et al., 2010) and most individuals have at least one sibling (Jensen et al., 2018;Volling, 2012) with whom they share a bond different from other relationships, particularly due to their shared upbringing (Caspi, 2011). However, relatively little research compares siblings to other relationships, such as parent-child or child-peer (Feinberg et al., 2012;Gass et al., 2007;Moser et al., 2005). ...
Siblings are often cited as a source of support throughout life, but they have not been included in studies of sexual violence disclosure. Survivors of sexual violence often delay or do not disclose their sexual violence. The current study investigated if and why survivors of sexual violence decided to disclose to their sibling. This qualitative investigation included 10 female participants, of which six had disclosed their abuse to their sibling. The participants ranged in age from 20 to 58, five identified as Hispanic, one as Hispanic and White three identified as White, and one identified as Middle Eastern. Thematic analysis was used to examine the data. Three major themes were identified that affected sibling disclosure decisions: sibling dynamics, perceived and real reactions to disclosure, and words of advice. The findings from this study demonstrate the continued need to investigate siblings and their role in disclosure of sexual violence. Practitioners may also want to examine the sibling relationship as a source of support for survivors of sexual violence. Finally, as policies continue to develop around support of survivors of sexual violence, inclusion of siblings in family policies, outreach centers, and counseling services may be beneficial.
... During childhood, sibling relationships are an important factor as siblings can affect one another's behaviour positively, as a protective factor of resilience, or negatively as a risk factor (Alderfer et al., 2010). As an adult, the individual can choose the type of relationship they have with their siblings (Rocca, Martin, & Dunleavy, 2010). White (1994White ( , 2001 found that the likelihood of a person maintaining regular contact with, supporting and living near their siblings increases with the number of siblings they have. ...
Resilience is key for maintaining farmers' wellbeing in the face of adversity. Individual resilience requires an individual to draw on their internal resources and those of their social supports to overcome trying circumstances. While most farmers possess adaptive strategies, problems occur when a farmer's social, financial and psychological resources are insufficient to combat stressors. As rural individuals are confronted by numerous barriers to accessing professional help, including physical isolation and personal values of self-reliance and stoicism, farmers rely on the support of their family. Thus, rural families call on family resilience to support family member wellbeing and stabilise family functioning during periods of distress. This pilot study aimed to examine the correlation between individual resilience, family resilience and family functioning in the rural community of New Zealand. It was hypothesised that greater individual resilience would be related to greater family resilience and healthier family functioning. A secondary hypothesis proposed family resilience would correlate with family functioning due to the conceptual overlap. Participants included 55 dairy farm workers in Northland, New Zealand who responded to an invitation to participate issued by third party sector organisations. Respondents completed an online survey containing the Family Assessment Device General Functioning Scale and Resilience Scale for Adults. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to test the hypothesised correlations and the influence of participants' individual characteristics was examined using one-way analysis of variance. Strong correlations were discovered between individual resilience and family resilience (r = .692, p < .01), individual resilience and family functioning (r = .531, p < .01) and family resilience and family functioning (r = .709, p < .01). Greater individual resilience was associated with greater family resilience and healthier family functioning while greater family resilience was related to healthier family functioning. Birth order and number of siblings significantly affected participants' family resilience and family functioning. Further investigation into resilience-promoting interventions at a family level in rural communities is considered worthwhile.
Certainly, it can be said that the sibling relationship in emerging adulthood is a worthy topic to study seriously. Through this chapter, its importance was established, and the need to identify how this bond is assessed in Mexico was emphasized. Thus, sibling quality (and strategies for handling sibling conflict) was operationalized by performing relevant statistical procedures to determine its psychometric characteristics. Additionally, differences were explored among sisters, brothers, and siblings regarding attachment styles, similarity and complementarity, complicity, conversation topics, favoritism, conflict motives, jealousy, aggression, conflict management strategies, and sibling quality. Subsequently, this chapter proposed the ascertainment of a series of explanatory path models for each dyad (sisters, brothers, and siblings) and for each type of sibling quality (warm, respectful, constructive, pleasant, and loyal). These models included all the variables identified as predictors of sibling quality. Among the main results, valid, reliable, and culturally sensitive measures were obtained for the designed population. Primarily, differences were found between the dyads, justifying the proposal of explanatory path models. As for these models, fun and friendship were identified as the central complicity factor in explaining sibling quality, with various specific versions for each type of relationship.
In many contexts worldwide, most people grow up with one or more siblings. The current paper reviews research on sibling relationship quality (closeness, communication, and conflict) in adolescence and young adulthood in four different contexts: primarily White North American and European samples (132 articles reviewed); ethnic minority families (26 articles reviewed); China (6 articles reviewed); and when one sibling has a disability (21 articles reviewed). Where the literature was available, within each context we addressed five questions: how does sibling relationship quality change from adolescence through young adulthood, how are demographic and structural characteristics linked to sibling relationship quality, how is sibling relationship quality linked to adjustment and behavior, how are familial relationships and processes linked to sibling relationship quality, and how is sibling relationship quality linked to non-familial relationships. Included articles were published between 2001 and 2021 and included aspects of sibling closeness, communication, or conflict in adolescence or young adulthood. Across all contexts, individual (e.g., gender) and dyadic characteristics (e.g., gender composition, birth order) play a role in siblings’ relationship qualities. In several contexts, the current literature suggests that sibling closeness and communication are linked to positive development, well-being, and healthy relationships with other social partners. In multiple contexts, sibling conflict is linked to poorer well-being and negative relationships with other social partners. These broad patterns, however, are qualified by each context and often multiple moderators.
Using respondents’ perceptions about parental and siblings’ influences on their educational decisions in the data of Taiwan Panel Survey of Family Dynamics, we found that sons’ study choices are more likely than those of daughters to be influenced by parents. In addition, females are likely to be influenced by their sisters to choose a non-science-related study field. Moreover, when fathers influence their sons’ educational decisions, sons tend to choose science-related study fields. Conversely, if mothers play a role in their sons’ educational decisions, sons are more likely to choose a non-science-related study field. From the cross-sex influences on children’s study field choice, that is, fathers’ influence on daughters and mothers’ influence on sons, we find that the effects of parents’ field preferences are stronger than the effects of parental gender stereotype. The gender of the influential family member is the key to determining whether the influenced member chooses a science or non-science study field. Furthermore, although we cannot prove a significant relationship between the degree of masculinity constructed from parents’ occupations and children’s study field choice, we show that parents play a vital role in field choice. In addition, we employ the bounding approach to show that our main findings remain robust to potential omitted-variable bias.
The present qualitative, phenomenological study involved semi‐structure interviews of 18 sibling pairs (n = 36) together at a private, selective, comprehensive, Midwest university. Since the support of siblings is important throughout the lifespan, but siblings typically have less contact during emerging adulthood, the study of sibling relationships while attending college together is a salient area of study. From the perspective of family systems theory, we report three common themes among the participants regarding their experience of attending college together. First, the siblings reported that they felt a shared loyalty to one another. This dynamic displayed itself in their reported desire to stand up for one another and to “have one another's back.” Second, the siblings reported a new sense of a closer connection as a result of attending college together. This construct was said to have occurred in the form of a renewed appreciation for one another and also a desire not to take one another for granted. Finally, the participants reported a sense of openness and sharing with one another that occurred during their college experience. This dynamic reportedly occurred partly because the siblings were able to have shared and similar experiences together at college. The participants reported that having this daily, face‐to‐face interaction positively contributed to their openness and share with one another.
The aim of this study is to conduct validity and reliability analysis of sibling dyadic trust scale. The data was collected from 215 (121 F, 94 M) high school students whose ages are between 14-18. These students also filled 'Demographic Information Form'. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for single model of the sibling dyadic trust scale and the following indices were obtained [χ²(20) = 67.473, p = .00; χ²/df-ratio = 3.374; GFI = .922, CFI = .908, RMSEA = .087, and SRMR = .064]. These indices indicated good fit. Cronbach alpha coefficient was calculated for the internal reliability and it was found .82. Besides, in order to test for gender differences, an independent group t-test was used. A significant difference was found between males (M=37.87, SD= 10.18) and females (M=41.93, SD= 8.99) on the SDT [ t (212) = 3.091, p<.05].The results suggested that the original one-factor structure of the scale was confirmed with the present data providing evidence for the construct validity.
The focus of this study involved the study of siblings over the age of 30. Specifically of interest was the relationship between verbal aggressiveness, credibility, satisfaction, and trust. Recruited participants were informed in a cover letter that this study involved communication in sibling relationships and that they needed to have a sibling in order to participate. Participants reported on their use of verbal aggression in their sibling relationships, their perceptions of their siblings' credibility, and how much trust and satisfaction they currently had in their sibling relationships. Results showed a negative relationship between the amount of verbal aggression in the relationship with perceptions of credibility, trust, and satisfaction. Trust and satisfaction were positively related to all three dimensions of credibility (competence, character, and caring).
Introduction: Importance of Sibling Relationships. A Life Span Perspective for Sibling Research. Methodological Approaches and Issues in Studying Siblings. Siblings in Childhood Adolescence. Siblings in Adulthood and Old Age. Siblings in Crosscultural Perspective. Understanding Sibling Relationships: A Hermeneutic Approach. Sibling Helping Relationships. Siblings as Caregivers of Elderly Parents. Siblings with Chronic Illnesses and Disabilities. Sibling Conflict, Aggression, Violence, and Abuse. Sibling Sexual Experiences: Normal Exploratory Behavior, Nonabusive Incest, and Abusive Incest. Loss of Siblings through Death. Siblings and Psychotherapy. Epilog. Index.
Background: Siblings may support each other, but also reveal fierce rivalry and mutual aggression. Supportive sibling relationships have been linked to the development of psychosocial competence of children. In the present longitudinal study, we will focus on the development of perceived support in sibling dyads and on the influence of sibling support and sibling problem behavior on psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. Method: In a three-wave longitudinal sample of 285 Dutch families with two adolescent children (11- to 15-year-olds), these two siblings judged the support perceived from each other. In addition, they themselves and their parents judged their internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. The relation of sibling support and sibling problem behavior with internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors was examined while controlling for support from parents and friends and, over time, controlling for the autoregressive effects of problem behavior. Results: Support perceived from a sibling is mostly negatively related to externalizing problems; sibling problem behavior is strongly related to internalizing problems. Differential developmental trajectories of adolescents' adjustment are associated with siblings' support and problem behavior. Conclusion: The results indicate that adolescents' relationships with both older and younger siblings arc characterized by modeling processes.
Using data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households, this study compares contact with full- and step/halfsiblings in adulthood. Analysis shows that respondents keep in touch with their step/halfsibs, but see them significantly less often than their fullsibs. Generally, the same factors that encourage fullsib contact also encourage contact among step/halfsibs: respondent female, black, younger, and geographically closer. Having no fullsibs also encourages contact with step/halfsibs. Among those living in stepfamilies as children, length of time in the stepfamily and having a stepfather rather than a stepmother increase adult contact with step/halfsibs. Implications for the future are discussed.
Using data on 3,625 respondents from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households, this analysis examines the long-term consequences of childhood family structure for adult relationships with parents and siblings. Using a broad array of indicators of family solidarity—relationship quality, contact frequency, and perceived and actual social support—this research compares adults raised by single parents with those raised in intact families and compares those who grew up in stepfamilies with those raised by single parents. Results show that divorced single-parent families are associated with reduced solidarity between parents and children. Custodial mothers' remarriages are associated with more parent-child solidarity than single-mother families, but the remarriages of custodial fathers are associated with lower solidarity. Sibling solidarity is not significantly affected by childhood family structure.
General contact patterns, obligatory contact motivation, and discretionary contact motivation were examined regarding sibling relationships in adulthood. This examination occurred within the context of relationship quality variables (emotional closeness, sibling responsibility expectations, and conflict), and individual and family characteristics (sibling age differences, number of siblings, geographic proximity, sex of respondent, sex composition of sibling pair, and whether the respondent has coresident children). Through a two-stage systematic sampling procedure of telephone and mail surveys, a sample of 313 adults aged 25 years or older with living siblings was obtained from a southwest Virginia urban area. The proportion of variance explained by the predictors were significant and substantial for each criterion (dependent variable R2's of .65, .37, and .69). Emotional closeness, sibling responsibility expectations, and geographic proximity were most important in explaining dimensions of sibling interaction. These reflect the significance of internal states, cultural expectations and family norms, and practical opportunities for interaction, in matters concerning aspects of the sibling relationship.
Based on a review of research, this article outlines the developmental tasks of siblingship in the United States from a life-cycle perspective. The sibling support bond typically persists throughout the life cycle. Some siblingship tasks are constant, weaving threads of consistency from birth to death, while others stand out as idiosyncratic to the context of the particular stage in the life cycle.
Two hundred and seventy-five college undergraduates coming from families of 2-7 children completed questionnaires about their relationships with their siblings. Aspects of intersibling communication, influence, and current and past affective relationships were investigated. The relationships reported were generally more positive than those revealed in other investigations of younger children. Presence of two parents in the home, size of the sibling group, and ordinal position of the respondent student had particular effects upon reported relationships. Furthermore, there were qualitative differences in the relationships between sibling pairs of different ordinal statuses. Results indicate that relationships between siblings have both complementary and reciprocal features, and caution against unidimensional characterizations.