Sibling research

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The sibling research examines the relationships between siblings . In relation to other relationships, for example between spouses or in a work team, the relationships between siblings have so far been given little importance in research, although the sibling relationships are lifelong and thus longer than all other relationships. Sibling research can aim to examine the factors of family size, position within the sibling order, sequence of the sexes and the time interval between the siblings. The subject is the influence of these factors on the personality of the examined individuals.

Other approaches examine the phases of the sibling relationship in their life course, the various functions of the sibling relationship and the intercultural differences or universal similarities.

In 1961 Walter Toman published the book Family Constellations - Your Influence on People , in which he empirically and theoretically justified the formative influence of sibling positions.

See also middle child , firstborn , only child , family , twin research , multi-child family .

Cultural differences

The content and context of sibling relationships vary in different cultures. In industrialized cultures, sibling relationships are typically natural, with the encouragement to cooperate with the sibling and partial transfer of responsibility to older siblings to look after a younger one, with the parents taking primary responsibility. In non-industrialized cultures, the sibling relationship is bindingly characterized by strong cultural norms that lead to cooperation and closeness between the siblings. These cultures expand the caring roles of the older siblings. They are expected to constantly take care of their younger siblings.

Sibling relationship in the course of life

The older siblings are often made aware of the future sibling during their mother's pregnancy in order to encourage the older child to adapt to the new situation and improve the relationship with the newborn. In early development, interactions can lead to social suitability and cognitively stimulate the younger sibling. The attachment theory can also be applied to siblings. When an infant finds that an older sibling is a point of contact and a source of comfort, a supportive bond can form. A negative bond can form when the older sibling acts aggressively, carelessly, or otherwise negatively. Sibling bonds are further strengthened by the lack of a primary caregiver, when younger siblings must rely on the older ones for safety and support.

Even with the further development of the siblings, there is often considerable stability in their relationships from infancy to middle childhood. If there is a greater age difference between the siblings, there are often changes in relationships because of the different age-related development. B. the older child goes to school.

The nature of the relationship between siblings may also change during adolescence. While young adolescents can support one another, this period of development may also be marked by increasing conflicts and emotional distance. However, the effects may vary depending on the sex of the sibling. Mixed sibling pairs often experience a dramatic decrease in intimacy during adolescence, while sibling pairs of the same sex experience a slight upswing in intimacy at times. In both cases, the feeling of intimacy between siblings increases over the years as young adults. This trend in development is possibly the result of the fact that in adolescence the focus is much more on the relationship with the peers . It is often the case that siblings adapt different ways of life, which can increase the emotional distance between the siblings.

Further research shows that positive sibling influence through role model function in adolescence can promote healthy and adaptive behavior, while negative interactions can reinforce vulnerabilities and problematic behavior. Intimate and positive sibling interactions can be an important source of support in adolescence and fuel the development of prosocial behavior. However, if the relationship between the siblings is characterized by conflict and aggression, this can promote crime and antisocial behavior among peers.

Despite different development in adulthood due to independence in choosing a career and starting one's own family and possible spatial changes due to moving to more distant places, the sibling relationships often persist well into old age.

Sibling rivalry

Sibling rivalry describes the competitive relationship or animosity between siblings. The most common cause of sibling competition is wanting more parental attention and seeking recognition both within and outside the family. The connection between siblings is often complicated and is mostly driven by factors such as: B. parental treatment, birth order, age difference between siblings, personality and influenced by people and experiences outside the family.

Alfred Adler regarded siblings as “striving for meaning” within the family and considered the order of birth to be an important aspect of personality development. The feeling of being replaced or displaced is often the cause of jealousy in older siblings. A child's personality can also have an impact on sibling rivalries. Some children seem to naturally accept change while other children naturally compete. They show this peculiarity long before a sibling enters life.

Parents can reduce the possibility of rivalry by avoiding comparing, typifying, or preferring their children and by paying individual attention to each child and spending time with the whole family. Children who have a stronger sense of being part of a family are more likely to see siblings as extensions of themselves.

The influence of the sibling relationship on personality

According to recent studies, the relationship between siblings fulfills a number of important socialization functions that can influence a child's personality . For example, by growing up with siblings, aggressive behavior can be mutually regulated and the level of aggressiveness reduced. Another positive effect of a sibling relationship on personality is the development of the ability to care, which results from the mutual care of the siblings. In addition, siblings can learn from each other, which can support personality development. Particularly striking effects were found in immigrant families. Here, “interpersonal values” are passed on between siblings more often than in local families. This includes cooperation, helpfulness, respect for the elderly and the integration of oneself into society. In addition, strongly performance-related orientation patterns could be observed less often. In addition to the abovementioned skills, siblings acquire other skills that can have a lasting impact on their personality. They are more often able to share, to comfort, to argue, to be able to assert themselves, to reconcile after an argument, to make compromises with others, to be able to put up with arguments or to be able to defend themselves. Here, particularly cooperative behavior of siblings emerges. With regard to younger siblings in particular, it can be said that they can develop a positive increase in their self-confidence and independence by growing up with siblings.

In principle, it can be concluded from the current, albeit limited, research that there can be a variety of effects of the sibling relationship on the development of personality. In addition to various skills in dealing with others, the children usually develop a more self-confident and balanced personality. It should be noted, however, that these are no verifiable causal factors, but merely represent a potential influence.

Meaning of the sibling constellation

Since the 20th century, the family structure has changed through individualization and modernization. There are more and more single-person households with fewer children overall. This has the effect that children have significantly fewer siblings and are therefore more surrounded by adults. On this basis, the question arises whether these changes in the structure of the family lead to a profound change in roles, relationships and bonds among siblings.

In a study by Patrick Lustenberger it was investigated whether personality aspects of children are influenced by the sibling position. First-born, middle-aged, youngest and only children were compared with regard to their performance orientation, self-acceptance and aggressiveness.

According to this study, achievement orientation appears to be highest in the oldest child as well as the middle child, while only children showed less achievement-oriented outcomes. The lowest achievement orientation is noted among the youngest children. With regard to self-acceptance, the overall values ​​were quite high, with no significant differences between the sibling positions. The oldest children appear to be the least aggressive towards persons in authority, while only children show a relatively high willingness to be aggressive. The youngest children seem to be more aggressive towards teachers than other children. This is possibly due to the fact that the first-born child initially has the undivided attention and is thus the focus, which is sometimes associated with a lot of pressure from the parents. With the birth of the second child, there is competition. The second child tries to outperform the sibling or to take a completely different direction. The youngest child, on the other hand, is often spoiled and has to take on less responsibility, which leads to a lower performance orientation. Only children have similar requirements as firstborns, but do not have to compete with anyone for attention. With a stable self-confidence, the high performance orientation is often less pronounced. In conclusion, the meaning of the sibling constellation does not seem to have changed. However, social behavior among children is changing insofar as there are generally more only children.

In addition, according to the study, the order of birth also influences professional selection. Firstborns are more likely to pursue jobs that require leadership, social skills, and the Big Five personality traits and are therefore more likely to occupy managerial positions. On the other hand, those born later work more often independently, which is generally considered an indicator of willingness to take risks. Boys born later are particularly influenced by older siblings when they are brothers. For example, male born later are more likely to consider creative occupations if they have older brothers than they do with older sisters. Firstborn babies increasingly show non-cognitive characteristics such as emotional stability, perseverance, open-mindedness, the willingness to take on responsibility and the ability to take the initiative. These abilities decrease monotonously in the order of birth.

The influence of sibling order

So far there is still no consensus on whether older siblings have a greater developmental advantage over their younger siblings, or vice versa.

When looking at the peer networks, it is noticeable that last-born boys in particular can name more friends than older siblings. This suggests that older siblings, in their role as tutors, facilitate their younger siblings' access to peer groups (Teubner, 2005).

On the other hand, numerous studies indicate that the firstborns often have higher skills than their younger siblings (Schmid, submitted; Schmid & Wintersteller, submitted). This decline in competence between first and second born is explained by the so-called teaching effect. This states that teaching behaviors promote one's own skills.

The Vygotsky model assumes an important perspective , which assumes that the older sibling compensates for the difference between potential performance and the current level of development of the younger sibling through the competent structuring of interactions and this leads to a new zone of development.

Although only children enjoy the full attention of their parents, while siblings have to share it, findings show that only children show poorer areas of competence than first-borns (from families of three and four children). This finding supports the credibility of the teaching effect.

Differential treatment by parents

Because siblings typically grow up in the same family and under similar conditions, it is usually assumed that the siblings will have very similar environmental influences. Children can have very different experiences within the same family. One possible example of an undivided environment is parental treatment. Ideally, siblings are treated equally. Various studies show that different treatment by parents in terms of privileges, discipline, parent-child conflicts and affection is related to a less good sibling relationship, poorer adaptation and different levels of adaptation between siblings. The less well treated child usually shows less adaptation. (McHale, Updegraff, & Whiteman, 2012)

A study by Rauer and Volling (2007) links the different treatment by parents to later difficulties in romantic relationships in young adults. Even if childhood experiences are only recorded retrospectively, the study suggests that the perception of unequal treatment by parents affects the affective and cognitive models that are later used to evaluate oneself and relationships with other people. The study participants were asked whether they or their next sibling felt more envious or whether there was just as much envy among them. In this way it was shown that feeling more envy than the sibling is related to less self-confidence. Lower self-esteem, in turn, correlates with more conflict, more ambivalence, and more jealousy in romantic relationships in young adulthood. On the other hand, getting more affection seems to lead to more self-esteem. However, preferential treatment is also to be assessed negatively. This was shown by the association the researchers were able to make between the envy of the siblings and the type of attachment. People with a secure attachment type experienced jealousy as balanced, while those with fearful-avoidant and dismissive-avoidant attachment types were more likely to report that they themselves were less jealous than their sibling. Being more jealous than the sibling has been associated with a thoughtful attachment type.

Sibling marriage and incest

In rare cases, developments that lead to sibling marriage and incest also occur. While cross-cousin marriage is legal in most countries and the avunculate is legal in many countries, sexual relations between siblings are viewed as incestuous almost everywhere. The innate sexual aversion between the siblings arises from the close connection in childhood, the so-called Westermarck effect . Children who grow up together do not usually develop sexual attraction even when they are not related, and conversely, siblings who were separated at a young age may develop sexual attraction. For example, many cases of sibling incest, including accidental incest, involve siblings who were separated at birth or at a very young age. A New England study found that around 10% of men and 15% of women had some form of sexual contact with a brother or sister, the most common form being stroking or touching the other's genitals.

Sibling relationships in blended families

Under a blended family (English patchwork. Patchwork =) is understood to be a partnership from a psychological perspective, one or more children brings in at least one of the partners with the relationship. According to this definition, a new marriage does not have to be entered into, nor do both partners have to have children or father children together in order to speak of a blended family.

Studies carried out in the middle of the 20th century postulated a disadvantaged development of children in blended families. They would have more problems in school and in emotional behavior (aggressiveness and withdrawal).

More recent studies, which in addition to cross-sectional designs also carried out longitudinal designs, change the image of the aggressive and emotionally unstable child living in blended families. Many other variables were found to have an impact on children's development, with financial and family resources appearing to have a very large influence.

One reason for the cross-sectional findings can be that the children show behavioral problems even before they join the blended family (e.g. due to the separation of their biological parents) and the blended family cannot be named as the causal cause. Children in blended families have to learn social skills early on, adjust to new circumstances, possibly accept compromises and they are more able to take on responsibility than children from other family constellations.

So blended families can also be a great opportunity for those involved if the environmental factors are right.

How the relationship with the step-siblings is and how this influences development is currently very little researched.

literature

  • Hartmut Kasten: Siblings. Role models, rivals, confidants. Reinhardt, Munich 2003 - 5th edition, 192 pages. ISBN 3-497-01656-X .
  • Walter Toman: Family Constellations . Your influence on people . (First edition 1961) Beck Verlag, Munich, 7th edition 2002, ISBN 3-406-32111-9
  • H. Box. The current status of sibling research. https://www.familienhandbuch.de/familie-leben/familienformen/geschwister/geschwister.php
  • C. Mack (2013). Siblings - how they shape life, issue 2, Hänssler-Verlag
  • C. Schmid (1997). Siblings and the development of socio-moral behavior. Educational research materials, 58
  • A. Lohaus & M. Vierhaus (2015). Development of the child. Springer publishing house
  • Frick, J. (2009). I like you - you annoy me! Siblings and their meaning in life. Bern: Huber http://www.achim-schad.de/mediapool/86/864596/data/Geschwisterbeektiven_Bachelorarbeit_.pdf
  • A. Eiler (2014). Sibling relationships and their importance for child development. Bachelor thesis, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
  • Perner, J., Ruffman, T., Leekam, SR (1994). Theory of Mind is Contagious: You catch it from your Sibs. Society for Research in Child Developement 56 (4) , 1228-1238. doi: 10.1111 / j.1467-8624.1994.tb00814.x
  • Peterson, CC (2001). Kindred spirits Influences of siblings` perspectives on theory of mind. Cognitive Developement 15 , 435-455. doi: 10.1016 / S0885-2014 (01) 00040-5
  • McAlister, A., Peterson, CC (2006). Mental playmates: Siblings, executive functioning and theory of mind. British Journal of Developmental Psychology (24) , 733-751. doi: 10.1348 / 026151005X70094
  • McHale, SM, Updegraff, KA, & Whiteman, SD (2012). Sibling relationships and influences in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74 (5), 913-930. doi: 10.1111 / j.1741-3737.2012.01011.x
  • Rauer, AJ, & Volling, BL (2007). Differential parenting and sibling jealousy: Developmental correlates of young adults' romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 14 (4). doi: 10.1111 / j.1475-6811.2007.00168.x
  • Teubner, MJ (2005). Brothers come dance with me ... siblings as developmental resources for children? In C. Alt (Ed.), Children's Life. Growing up between family, friends and institutions (2.63-98). Wiesbaden: VS publishing house for social sciences
  • Sulloway, FJ (2007). Psychology. Birth order and intelligence. Science, 316 (5832), 1711-1712.
  • Schmid, C. (submitted). Learning by teaching? Effects of the number of children and sibling position on reading competence in PISA 2000 (German sample). Journal of Education
  • Schmid, C., & Wintersteller, A. (submitted). Learning from older siblings or learning from younger siblings? Effects of the constellation of siblings on school competencies. PIRLS & TIMSS 2011: Austrian expert report.

Web links

Individual evidence

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  2. ^ Dunn, J., & Kendrick, C .: Siblings: Love, envy, and understanding .
  3. ^ Teti, DM: Sibling interaction . 1992.
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  5. ↑ Stewart, RB, & Marvin, RS (1984) Sibling relations: The role of conceptual perspective taking in the ontogeny of sibling caregiving. Child Development, 55, 1322-1332.
  6. ^ Dunn, J. (1992) Introduction. In F. Boer & J. Dunn (Eds.), “Children's sibling relationships: Developmental and clinical issues” (pp. Xiii-xvi). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
  7. ↑ Bryant, BK (1992). Sibling caretaking: Providing emotional support during middle childhood. In F. Boer & J. Dunn (Eds.), “Children's sibling relationships: Developmental and clinical issues” (pp. 55-69). Hallsdale, NJ: Lawrence Elbaum Associates
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  15. ↑ Jim Snyder, Lew Bank, Bert Burraston: The consequences of antisocial behavior in older male siblings for younger brothers and sisters. In: Journal of Family Psychology . tape 19 , no. 4 , 2005, ISSN  1939-1293 , pp. 643-653 , doi : 10.1037 / 0893-3200.19.4.643 .
  16. ↑ Jay A. Mancini, VB Cicirelli: Helping Elderly Parents: The Role of Adult Children . In: Family Relations . tape 33 , no. 2 , April 1984, ISSN  0197-6664 , p. 341 , doi : 10.2307 / 583817 .
  17. ↑ Adult Sibling Rivalry Archived 2012-12-11 at Archive.today Jane Mersky Leder, Psychology Today, Publication Date: Jan / Feb 93, Last Reviewed: 30 Aug 2004
  18. ^ T. Ellis-Christensen (2003): What is Sibling Rivalry ?, in: wiseGEEK clear answers for common question
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  21. ↑ books de IT and Production: The meaning of the sibling constellation. Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Markus Henrich: The contractual and criminal court of jurisdiction of the Eugvvo after the jurisprudence of the Eugh and their effects on the cognitive authority and the applicable law . In: Journal for the private law of the European Union . tape 15 , no. 5 , October 1, 2018, ISSN  2364-7213 , p. 232–242 , doi : 10.9785 / gpr-2018-150507 .
  23. ^ Incest: an age-old taboo . March 12, 2007 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed June 19, 2019]).