Sibling power: influence of older siblings' persuasive appeals on younger siblings' judgements about risk taking behaviours.

Abstract

Objectives-Although many injuries happen when school age children are away from home and in the company of other children, we know surprisingly little about interpersonal influences on children's risk taking decisions. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of older siblings' persuasive appeals on young children's decisions about engaging in behaviours that could threaten their physical safety. Methods-Forty same sex sibling pairs participated. Children were shown drawings of play scenes (bicycling, river crossing, and sledding), with each depicting lower and higher risk paths of travel. Children of 8 years made initial decisions as to which paths they would take. Subsequently, their older sibling acted as a confederate and tried to persuade them to change their decisions. Results-After the appeals of older siblings, younger children significantly shifted their decisions: choices ofless risky paths replaced the initial selection ofmore risky paths, and vice versa. A positive sibling relationship was predictive of younger siblings' decision changes. Boys and girls were equally effective in persuasion but they did so using different types of arguments, with boys communicating primarily appeals to fun and girls emphasizing appeals to safety. Conclusions-These findings highlight the effect that older siblings can have on risk taking decisions of younger siblings. Accordingly, they document the importance of considering the interpersonal context of risk taking when designing interventions to reduce injuries among elementary schoolchildren.

Increasing seat belt use among 8- to 15-year-olds: Volume II, Appendices

“…The authors found that friend persuasion had a significant ability to alter children's choices, so long as it was a situation where the child would not be completely abandoning his or her own, original convictions. In addition, the study found that the number of persuasive appeals made by friends was just as important in influencing change as the message or content of the appeal (Christensen and Morrongiello, 1997). These findings suggest that negative peer influences may be countered by instilling children with strong convictions about the importance of seat belt use.…”

“…Researchers suggest that because of the relationship between parental use and children's use, successful interventions could target either parent or child, but preferably both (Russell et al, 1994). Children are also likely to be influenced by the behaviors of their older siblings (Morrongiello and Bradley, 1997).…”

Understanding hikers who approached a hazardous river in Yosemite National Park

“…When Morrongiello and Bradley13 studied children persuading their siblings how best to cross a hypothetical river, they found that boys tended to use arguments that focused on having fun, while girls framed their discussions around safety. Most of the subjects in that study felt that their parents would only have preferred them to take the safer route because they did not understand ‘how good [the child was] at the activity depicted’ 13.…”

Injury control from the perspective of contextual pediatrics

“…Há evidências de que crianças abaixo de 6 anos somente são capazes de se lembrar de menos da metade das regras de segurança da casa (por exemplo: não correr com tesouras ou não tocar em panelas quentes), mas o mais importante é que o conhecimento não tem relação com a redução efetiva de injúrias 87 . Um estudo mostrou que uma relação positiva entre irmãos é preditiva de escolhas de comportamentos mais seguros por escolares; tanto irmãos quanto irmãs mais velhos eram capazes de persuadir os mais jovens a evitar riscos, mas os meninos apelavam mais para brincadeiras, enquanto as meninas para o juízo 88 .…”