In most families, once their children start to grow up, rivalries between siblings become more apparent. The leading cause of sibling rivalry the different ways in which parents treat their children. Through a child's life, this rivalry is seen as normal, a bit of jealousy or a verbal fight with a sibling. But sibling rivalry is when you are constantly jealous of another sibling, in a competition, and always fighting with your siblings. The cause of sibling rivalry is typically seen because of a child's birth order, the sibling's gender, and labels and the introduction of a child into a family. A child's birth order affects their everyday life from things like their chores to special privileges. The gender of these siblings is taken to…show more content… This could potentially leave these high standards that the other children or younger child believe in order to achieve the success they will have to do something similar to achieve that recognition. This process is when parents label their children. Parents often reinforce those differences because they want to encourage self-esteem in each child and also fear that the second or third child may not be as skilled as the first child. Labeling also causes children to assume they are not good at whatever another sibling is best at.The oldest child may be burdened with responsibilities for the younger children or the younger child spends his life trying to catch up with an older sibling
Sex or gender can also be the leading cause of sibling rivalry. If two same- gendered siblings are treated similarly, they might tend to feel more competitive pressure. It could be because they are expected to act the same. It might put more stress on the younger sibling to keep up with the older sibling. If the younger one cannot they can feel inadequate. The older sibling can also feel frustrated that they do not receive special privileges that go with the age. Both siblings are also likely to compete for a close relationship with the same-gender or most powerful parent. The combinations that seem unusually difficult include very close-aged, same-gender siblings, siblings of an extremely gifted child, and a family of children with one who is