Characteristics And Qualities Of Sibling Relationships

Even though scientific research on sibling relationships is relatively recent, it is still extremely important. T he brothers and sisters play a big role in our life and in our development.  Throughout history, they have been present in a multitude of tales, legends and tales. We can take the example of the love story between brothers and sisters of Isis or Osiris. Or the relationship that the brothers and sisters have in Mozart’s work The Magic Flute .

We all know from experience, or because we have seen it in other families, that the relationship between siblings  is not only important because of its impact on the social domain: it is also on the social sphere. cognitive development plan.  Parents do all they can when it comes to educating their children. However, the brothers and sisters will also have an influence on themselves, whether in a positive or negative way.

Currently, school psychologists and clinical psychologists are aware of the impact of sibling relationships. This is why we can find a large number of studies and research in this area.  In this article, we will concretely tell you about two hypotheses: the hypothesis of compensation for siblings and the hypothesis of hostility caused by favoritism. Both are linked to the treatment of parents vis-à-vis their different children.

The sibling compensation hypothesis

First of all, it should be emphasized that  sibling relationships cannot be studied in isolation. This means that other variables must be taken into account, such as the differential treatment of parents towards siblings. This is where our first questions arise. What happens if parents show poor treatment of their children? Could siblings make up for this deficit through their relationship?

The sibling compensation hypothesis argues that siblings can develop a closer and warmer relationship. They  therefore help each other in situations where they experience a certain lack of paternal / maternal affection.  In other words, siblings would act by compensating or substituting for their parents. By doing this, they would succeed in developing normally despite the lack of education on the part of their parents.

Studies of this hypothesis show results that support this reality. There is therefore an inverse correlation between the quality of parent-child interaction and the quality of sibling relationships.  For example, in a lab study by Bryant and Crockenberg, it was found that mother’s indifference towards her children was linked to a greater number of  prosocial behaviors  of the older brother / sister toward her younger brother.

Thus, these results tell us that siblings of school age support and educate each other in the absence of support from their parents. However, care must be taken when interpreting this data. Studies sometimes show conflicting results. There are indeed many other factors that regulate sibling relationships in addition to paternal / maternal treatment.

The hypothesis of hostility because of parental favoritism

We just talked about sibling relationships that can become more warm and close due to paternal / maternal treatment. However, the behavior of parents can generate hostility between siblings. This is where the hypothesis of hostility arises because of parental favoritism. She will tell us about children’s perceptions of how parents treat their siblings.

The hostility hypothesis provoked by parental favoritism argues that  siblings can develop hostile relationships if one of them perceives that he / she is being treated less well than the other.  In other words, if a child observes that his parents are showing favoritism towards his brother or sister, a response of jealousy will appear. This will then lead to hostile behavior towards his brother / sister.

In an experiment, Hetherington found that when one of the children is treated with less warmth and affection, the likelihood of sibling interaction becoming aggressive increases. In addition, rivalry behaviors will dominate. However, as with the other hypothesis,  it must be borne in mind that there are many other factors that can influence sibling relationships.

In any case,  the various studies carried out on the relations between brothers and sisters show us the importance of the latter in our life and our development.  Because, in the end, a brother or a sister is often this reference point of knowledge and confidence which will accompany us most of our life.

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