Sibling Rivalry, Sibling Jealousy, Age And Birth Order, And Adult Sibling Communication Essay

What causes sibling rivalry can be many different things. I know firsthand about sibling rivalry. I have a younger brother name Christian. He is seventeen and a junior in High school. We fight like cats and dogs. Even though he is six foot one, we still try to wrestle. When I come home from college on the weekends, my brother and I will go out and do something. Most of the times we go out to eat. Christian and I have a connection between the two of us that no matter where the other person is we will still fight with each other. Then we will be best friends the next day. No matter what we are doing, we both have our own opinions about things. However, coming from a divorced family puts a strain on my brothers and my relationship. Neither of us wants to hurt either of our parent’s feelings in anything we say or do. So instead of our fighting with our parents, my brother and I take it out of each other. There are three things that cause sibling rivalry. First off, fighting for the parent’s attention is something that happens with all siblings. Secondly, fighting with the other sibling. My brother and I fight all the time, but at the end of the day, we both love each other. The last thing that causes sibling rivalry is comparing one another.

Today in America, an estimated 80% of the population has at least one sibling. While it is true that no two families are identical, the relationship between siblings plays a central role in their development and growth. Younger siblings for example, might be prone to mimic the actions of their older siblings, viewing their older siblings as faultless and heroic figures. On the other hand, older siblings are often viewed as authority figures and are seldom questioned. They might develop as friends with an inseparable bond or as bitter rivals seeking supremacy over the others. Regardless of the nature of their relationship, siblings that share a household are forced to interact with each other more than any other friend or family member. Sibling

One can say my relationship with my sister is umm... complicated; one minute we’re fine and the next we want to rip out each others eyeballs. But yet, so many other siblings are like that too, so my sister and I are nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. In fact, one can say we have a healthy sibling relationship, because of this weird love-hate complex. One great example of an average sibling relationship comes from Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, where Jem and Scout Finch have a very iconic sibling relationship. My relationship with my sister is extremely similar to Jem and Scout’s relationship.

The instinct for justice to be served and the idea of revenge to be sought has existed upon us to be a natural part of human nature for many years. Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Disney’s 1994 film “The Lion King” directed by Roger Allers share many parallels between the relationship of brothers, resulting for the seek of revenge and restored order to compare. Green with envy, Scar and Claudius result to murder to achieve victory in gaining power over the thrown. The comparison between Claudius and Cain are evident to portray revenge upon their brothers and later to be exiled With both king deaths, Mufasa and King Hamlet bring meaning and actions to lend hand in the motive to their sons to restore what is right.

There are many influences on children's development by their family such as birth of siblings and the child's interactions with the sibling such as learning how to win, lose, love and even fight and the influences that their sibling has over them. Sometimes there may be a lot of jealousy and rivalry between them.

Mom! Barst and Bord are not letting me play video games with them because they say that I suck and says that if I do win, it is because I cheated. Whether you are a parent who has children that tends to fight a lot with their brother or sister or you have a brother or sister that fights with you a lot, this scene appears familiar doesn’t it. When people think about brothers or sisters fighting, they think that the relationship between one another will turn sour. However, even though brothers and sisters fight with one another from time to time, the relationships between one another can lead to positive effects. In Kelsey O'Neill's essay “Sibling Rivalry,” she argues that the relationship between siblings help navigate one another a myriad of

Many factors can affect the effectiveness of relational maintenance within sibling relationships, such as effort to maintain relationships, age of siblings, and how related they are among other things. In romantic relationships, individuals may experience a higher level of satisfaction within a relationship if their partners’ use of relational maintenance tactics compares favorably to their own (Dainton, 2000). It is possible for this to also be the case for adult sibling relationships since these would be life-long relationships that one would be born into instead of relationships one would form by choice and at any point of their lives. However, those involved in romantic relationships may not experience a greater level of relational satisfaction from relational maintenance the longer there are involved in a relationship. Whether or not this is also the case for adult siblings is an interesting question as there are a variety of factors that can positively or negatively affect their relationships over the course of time. These would include involvement with each other’s families, geographic distance, and continued involvement with parents among other factors. The current amount of relational satisfaction between adult siblings can be compared to that of when they were children; and can also be compared between adult siblings at different stages of their adult life.

However in some cases, several individuals consider their siblings as opponents or rival in getting the things that they want. Some think that their sibling hinders them from achieving their goals and prevent them from being fortunate. That is where sibling rivalry takes place. (Stein 2002)

Cicerelli, V. (1991) Sibling relationships in middle and old age. In G.H. Brody (Ed) Sibling relationships: Their causes and consequences, 47-73. Norwood, N.J: Ablex.

“Sibling relationships in particular are among the longest lasting and most influential relationships in an individual’s lifetime” (Shalash 288). Relationships with siblings definitely affects emotions. Emotions vary when it comes to siblings; they can range from anger and jealousy to joy and gratefulness. Siblings can go from calm and loving while spending time together to fighting physically or verbally within moments. With multiple siblings, favorites are often chosen by parents or siblings so the other siblings may feel like an outcast. When two families are combined different routines can cause great conflict. If a child faces conflicts continuously with their family it can make complications for their love life.

Each pair of siblings were only a few years apart- with older siblings mainly ranging between 12 and 20 and younger siblings mainly ranging between 8 and 16 years of age. These children were divided into three groups based on age level. The researchers developed a Siblings Issues Checklist for the study- much like the Issues Checklist but with content completely tailored to a sibling relationship. Each pair of siblings rated how often issues were discussed and to what scale they got heated- these issues were simple and everyday problems chosen from content from a pilot sample that asked what types of things kids fought with their siblings about. The questions on the Trust and Communication subscale of the Parent Peer Attachment Inventory were tailored to fit a sibling relationship and used to assess the relationships quality. Overall, it was found that though frequency and intensity of conflict are related, frequency ratings were higher than intensity. Also, the issue of personal domain invasion was more likely to be the cause of conflict over conflicts of fairness or equality. In conflicts over equality, they seemed to be more frequent than intense while in conflicts over personal domain there was less difference between frequency and intensity. Reports also showed that the kinds of fights along with the type of sibling relationship affected how trust and communication were impacted

Listening is an essential part of dialogue. If properly exercise, it allows us to absorb information within messages and exchange thoroughly processed feedback. This exchange offers an effective communication between parties. The lack of effective listening results in miscommunication, unessential dialogue and a waste of resources. Here we will discuss the relationship between siblings. The siblings in this case have a long distance relationship. Sibling A is married with no children and sibling B has two children, but is separated from her husband.

It is important to study the influence of siblings on one another because they act as the socializing agents in the life of every individual especially during the early childhood and adolescence. Siblings are seen to provide support throughout the lives especially in the difficult circumstances of the family. However, conflict between siblings is also seen to exist in several families which might be attributed to the adjustment difficulties or inappropriate behaviors of individuals in later life. Since the relations at home influence the relations in the outside world, the article titled as 'The Role of Sibling Relationships in the Development of Social Abilities' by Schneyer (2007) is the focus of this paper. This is

An intense relationship includes love and hate, play and fight, and the teasing and mocking of each other. In addition, aggressive relationships where the oldest child can be the one who is always coming down on the younger ones because of their age can lead to many problems amongst the family. It has been reported that aggression is very frequent in sibling relationships. In one study, 29% of behavior observed between siblings was hostile. There are many siblings that take their aggression to the extremes and others who go through phases and then end in a close, loving relationship. All rivalry is

The family unit across the globe is valued by almost all cultures as the most important social structure in which humans form the tightest bonds. Now significant evidence to suggest that within the family structure the relationship and interaction between siblings is the most impactful relationship of a human’s lifetime. Researchers have only recently become interested in the unique relationship between siblings. Siblings have been found to advance one another’s social, emotional, and cognitive development (Mcguire and Shanahan, 2010). Researchers are now are posing the question, “Are our relationships with our siblings the most important of all?”