Romantic Relationship Experiences from Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Role of Older Siblings in Mexican-Origin Families

Abstract

Youth's experiences with romantic relationships during adolescence and young adulthood have far reaching implications for future relationships, health, and well-being; yet, although scholars have examined potential peer and parent influences, we know little about the role of siblings in youth's romantic relationships. Accordingly, this study examined the prospective longitudinal links between Mexican-origin older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences and variation by sibling structural and relationship characteristics (i.e., sibling age and gender similarity, younger siblings' modeling) and cultural values (i.e., younger siblings' familism values). Data from 246 Mexican-origin families with older (M = 20.65 years; SD = 1.57; 50% female) and younger (M = 17.72 years; SD = .57; 51% female) siblings were used to examine the likelihood of younger siblings' involvement in dating relationships, sexual relations, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage with probit path analyses. Findings revealed older siblings' reports of involvement in a dating relationship, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage predicted younger siblings' relationship experiences over a two-year period. These links were moderated by sibling age spacing, younger siblings' reports of modeling and familism values. Our findings suggest the significance of social learning dynamics as well as relational and cultural contexts in understanding the links between older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences among Mexican-origin youth.

Associations between perceptions about siblings' development and emerging adults' adulthood attainment

“…That is, emerging adults who considered their sibling a person worth modeling tended to be more like him or her-even in early adulthood. These findings are consistent with the sibling socialization literature, which has consistently shown that sibling modeling is associated with greater similarity between siblings' risky behaviors during adolescence (Slomkowski et al, 2001;Whiteman, Jensen, & Maggs, 2014;Whiteman, Zeiders, et al, 2014;Whiteman et al, 2007) and even early adulthood (Wheeler et al, 2016). Furthermore, these findings provide evidence that, despite more limited contact in emerging adulthood, siblings likely still matter to each other and may play a role in the attainment of adulthood.…”

“…Research documents that social learning processes operate to make siblings similar during childhood and adolescence. For example, sibling modeling hypotheses have been proposed and found to explain sibling similarities in areas such as romantic and sexual risk behaviors (McHale et al, 2009;Wheeler et al, 2016;Whiteman, Zeiders, Killoren, Rodriguez, & Updegraff, 2014), alcohol and other substance use (Slomkowski, Rende, Novak, Lloyd-Richardson, & Niaura, 2005;Whiteman, Jensen, & Maggs, 2014), and aggression and delinquency (Patterson, 1984;Slomkowski, Rende, Conger, Simons, & Conger, 2001). Although less work has focused on sibling influence during emerging adulthood, two recent articles have explored sibling influence on emerging adults' risky behaviors.…”

Percepción subjetiva y socialización de las relaciones románticas de pareja en futuros y futuras docentes

“…Las personas participantes identificaron que el amor permite resolver obstáculos, por lo que fue percibido como algo positivo y una fuente de bienestar en las relaciones románticas de pareja. No obstante, de acuerdo con De Miguel (2015), los agentes de socialización ejercen una enorme influencia en las nuevas generaciones, y este tipo de imperativos podrían tener un gran impacto en el desarrollo individual de las personas y en los modos de afrontamiento ante los problemas, así como en las expectativas y formas de concebir las relaciones de pareja (Ferrer et al, 2008;Wheeler et al, 2016).…”

“…Por otro lado, la reciprocidad en las relaciones románticas se asocia a altos niveles de compromiso y exigencia. Esta concepción es interpretada desde los imperativos sociales, que representan niveles de exigencia diferenciados para los hombres respecto a las mujeres (Bonilla y Rivas, 2018a;Bonilla y Rivas, 2018b;Brewer y Abell, 2017;Wheeler et al, 2016). En este sentido, se han encontrado prescripciones relativas a que la reciprocidad es vital y qué sería lo mínimo que se ha de esperar en la relación, percepción reportada por un hombre.…”

Following in your sibling’s steps: Sibling influence and young adults’ marital attitudes

“…When an individual models his or her siblings, his or her behavior becomes more like that of their sibling (Whiteman, McHale, & Crouter, 2007). Siblings model one another in many domains, including risky sexual behavior (Whiteman, Zeiders, Killoren, et al, 2014), general romantic experiences (Wheeler et al, 2016), cultural orientation (Rodriguez De Jesus et al, 2018), academic achievement (Pajoluk, 2013), and substance use in adolescence (Whiteman et al, 2013). Despite the developmental differences from younger ages, modeling likely still matters in young adulthood.…”