Sibling relationships in early adulthood.

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to describe the nature of sibling relationships in young adulthood and to examine correlates of individual differences in adults' sibling relationships. A new measure, the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (ASRQ; R. P. Lanthier & C. Stocker, 1992), was developed with 2 samples (N = 383). The factor structure of the ASRQ indicated that sibling relationships in early adulthood were characterized by 3 independent dimensions: warmth, conflict, and rivalry. Individual differences in adults' warmth, conflict, and rivalry with siblings were somewhat associated with family structure variables and were linked to the amount of contact between siblings and to siblings' mental health.

Sibling Relationships in Emerging Adulthood and in Adolescence

“…Emerging adults reported lower levels of conflict with their siblings than adolescents, evinced in less quarreling, less antagonism, less competition, and less conflict related to power (Stewart et al, 2001). These results probably reflect the little time that emerging-adult siblings spend together, or show that emerging-adult siblings who do not get along well may simply choose to have little contact (Stocker, Lanthier, & Furman, 1997). Yet it would be incorrect to assume that, in the third decade of life, siblings become peripheral to each other's lives.…”

“…We also limited our choice of participants to same-sex pairs of siblings to allow examination of the research questions with a large enough sample. Siblings of different genders reported less conflict in their relationships than siblings of the same gender (Stocker et al, 1997;Buhrmester & Furman, 1990;Furman & Buhmester, 1985;Minnett, Vandell, & Santrock, 1983). To meet statistical power considerations, we decided to focus in this study on same-sex dyads only, rather than split the sample into smaller groups of various dyads.…”

“…However, research on sibling relationships in emerging adulthood is sparse, therefore, not much is known about their nature and the extent to which they differ from sibling relationships in adolescence. In their study, Stocker et al (1997) showed that emerging adults may still have ambivalent feelings-of warmth as well as conflict or rivalry-toward their siblings. Yet because of the decreased intensity in sibling relationships with age (Buhrmester & Furman, 1990), it is reasonable to examine whether the extent to which conflict and rivalry will be lower in emerging-adult siblings than in adolescent siblings.…”

Relationship with siblings as a predictor of empathy and humor styles in early adulthood

“…mother -child, parent -child [1]. Existing work on interpersonal attitudes of siblings in early adulthood focuses on describing and explaining the relationship's structural features, connected with birth order, gender and age configuration in sibling dyads [2,3]. The least attention is paid to sibling relationships in early adulthood 1 in connection with their social function [4,5].…”

“…It allows a person to maintain stability and consistency of behaviors in different circumstances [7]. 3 Social identity appears when a person develops a sense of community with members of another social group and identifies with their values, opinions or goals [7].…”