A study of siblings tested a relational dynamics model set in the family and based largely on Belief Systems Theory. Participants (N = 351) in a 3 (biological relatedness) × 2 (participant sex) × 2 (other sibling sex) quasi-experimental design evaluated their relationship with their sibling. Path analysis was used to track the effects of the independent variables on verbal aggression and verbal comforting. Mediating variables completed two distinct processes. The egocentric assertion of power and hostility between siblings mediated a sequence related to selfish emotions within the individualistic affect system. This sequence is anchored in parent–child verbal aggression and culminates in sibling verbal aggression. Empathy and strength of sibling bond mediated a sequence related to prosocial emotions within the cooperative affect system. This process is anchored in parent–child closeness and ends with expressions of comfort between siblings. The results provide an explanation for the emotional ambivalence of sibling relationships.
AguilarB.O’BrienK. M.AugustG. J.AounS. L.HektnerJ. M. (2001). Relationship quality of aggressive children and their siblings: A multiinformant, multimeasure investigation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 479-489.
2.
AndersonE. R.RiceA. M. (1992). Sibling relationships during remarriage. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 57(2-3), 149-177.
3.
BahamM. E.WeimerA. A.BraverS. L.FabriciusW. V. (2008). Sibling relationships in blended families. In PryorJ. (Ed.), The international handbook of stepfamilies: Policy and practice in legal, research, and clinical environments (pp. 175-207). New York, NY: Wiley.
4.
BankS. P. (1997). The sibling bond. New York, NY: Basic Books.
5.
BelskyJ.SteinbergL.DraperP. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647-670.
6.
BranjeS. J. T.van LieshoutC. F. M.van AkenM. A. G.HaselagerG. J. T. (2004). Perceived support in sibling relationships and adolescent adjustment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 1385-1396.
7.
BrodyG. H. (1998). Sibling relationship quality: Its causes and consequences. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 1-24.
8.
BuchananC. M.MaccobyE.DornbuschS. M. (1991). Caught between parents: Adolescents’ experience in divorced homes. Child Development, 62, 1008-1029.
9.
BuckR. (1988). Human motivation and emotion (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.
10.
BuckR. (1999). The biological affects: A typology. Psychological Review, 106, 301-336.
11.
BussD. M. (1999). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
12.
ColeA. K.KernsK. A. (2001). Perceptions of sibling qualities and activities of early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 204-226.
13.
ColemanM.FineM. A.GanongL. H.DownsK. J. M.PaukN. (2001). When you’re not the brady bunch: Identifying perceived conflicts and resolution strategies in stepfamilies. Personal Relationships, 8, 55-73.
14.
CollinsN. C.FeeneyB. C. (2004). Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: Evidence from experimental and observational studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 363-383.
15.
Deater-DeckardK.DunnJ.LussierG. (2002). Sibling relationships and social-emotional adjustment in different family contexts. Social Development, 11, 571-590.
16.
DunnJ. (2005). Commentary: Siblings in their families. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 654-657.
17.
FalciC. (2006). Family structure, closeness to residential and nonresidential parents, and psychological distress in early and middle adolescence. Sociological Quarterly, 47, 123-146.
18.
FelsonR. B. (1983). Aggression and violence between siblings. Social Psychology Quarterly, 46, 271-285.
19.
FloydK. (1997). Brotherly love II: A developmental perspective on liking, love, and closeness in the fraternal dyad. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 196-209.
20.
FloydK.MormanM. T. (1998). The measurement of affectionate communication. Communication Quarterly, 46, 144-162.
21.
FurmanW.BuhrmesterD. (1985). Children’s perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1016-1024.
22.
GoettingA. (1986). The developmental tasks of siblingship over the life cycle. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 703-714.
23.
Graham-BermanS. A. (1994). The assessment of childhood sibling relationships: Varying perspectives on cooperation and conflict. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 155, 457-470.
24.
GuerreroL. K.FloydK. (2004). Nonverbal communication in close relationships. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
25.
HamiltonM. A.HampleD. (2011). Testing hierarchical models of argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness. Communication Methods and Measures, 5, 1-24.
26.
HamiltonM. A.MineoP. J. (1996). Personality and persuasibility: Developing a multidimensional model of belief systems. World Communication, 24, 1-16.
27.
HamiltonM. A.MineoP. J. (1999). Self-worth and negative affect as antecedents to the authoritarian justification of conservatism rigidity. Politics, Groups, and the Individual, 8, 85-110.
28.
HamiltonM. A.MineoP. J. (2002). Argumentativeness and its effect on verbal aggressiveness: A meta-analytic review. In AllenM.PriessR. W. (Eds.), Interpersonal communication: Advances through meta-analysis (pp. 281-314). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
HamiltonM. A.BuckR.Chory-AssadR. M. (2004). Commentary. Communication Monographs, 71, 265-268.
30.
HamiltonM. A.BuckR.ChoryR. M.BeattyM. J.PatrylakL. (2008). Individualistic and cooperative affect systems as determinants of aggressive or collaborative message choice. In BeattyM.McCroskeyJ.FloydK. (Eds.), Advances in Communication Research: Biological Perspectives (pp. 227-250). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
31.
HetheringtonE. M. (2002). Should we stay together for the sake of the children? In HetheringtonE. M. (Ed.), Coping with divorce, single-parenting, and remarriage: A risk and resiliency perspective (pp. 93-116). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
32.
HetheringtonE. M.ClingempeelW. G. (1992). Coping with marital transitions: A family systems perspective. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 57(2-3), 1-238.
33.
HetheringtonE. M.HendersonS. H.ReissD. (1999). Adolescent siblings in stepfamilies: Family functioning and adolescent adjustment. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 64, 1-222.
34.
HofferthS. L.AndersonK. G. (2003). Are all dads equal? Biology versus marriage as basis for paternal investment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 213-232.
35.
HunterJ. E. (1980). Factor analysis. In MongeP. R.CappellaJ. N. (Eds.), Multivariate techniques in human communication research (pp. 229-257). New York, NY: Academic Press.
36.
HunterJ. E.HamiltonM. A. (2011). CFA 2: Confirmatory factor analysis. Program to perform oblique multiple groups cluster analyses. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
37.
InfanteD. A.WigleyC. J. (1986). Verbal aggressiveness: An interpersonal model and measure. Communication Monographs, 53, 61-69.
38.
JankowiakW.DiderichM. (2000). Sibling solidarity in a polygamous community in the USA. Unpacking inclusive fitness. Evolution and Human behavior: Official Journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, 21, 125-139.
39.
JenkinsJ. M.DunnJ.O’ConnorT. G.RasbashJ.BehnkeP. (2005). Change in maternal perception of sibling negativity: Within- and between-family influences. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 533-541.
40.
KalilA.DeLeireT. (2004). Family investments in children: Resources and parenting behaviors that promote success. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
41.
KramerL.KowalA. M. (2005). Sibling relationship quality from birth to adolescence: The enduring contributions of friends. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 503-511.
42.
LeeT. R.ManciniJ. A.MaxwellJ. W. (1990). Sibling relationships in adulthood: Contact patterns and motivations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 431-440.
43.
LeighG. K. (1982). Kinship over the lifespan. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 44, 197-208.
44.
MaccobyE. E. (1988). Gender as a social category. Developmental Psychology, 24, 755-765.
45.
MatthewsL. S.CongerR. D. (2004). “He did it on purpose!” Family correlates of negative attributions about an adolescent sibling. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14, 257-284.
46.
MikkelsonA. C. (2005, February). Communication in the adult sibling relationship. Paper presented to the Western States Communication Association, San Francisco, CA.
47.
MikkelsonA. C. (2006). Communication in the adult sibling relationship. In FloydK.MormanM. T. (Eds.), Widening the family circle: New research on family communication (pp. 21-36). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
48.
MyersD. (2001). Psychology (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
49.
NollerP. (2005). Sibling relationships in adolescence: Learning and growing together. Developmental Psychology and Ageing, 12, 1-22.
50.
PecchioniL. L.WrightK. B.NussbaumJ. F. (2005). Life-span communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
51.
PikeA.ColdwellJ.DunnJ. F. (2005). Sibling relationships in early/middle childhood: Links with individual adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 523-532.
52.
Reese-WeberM. (2000). Middle and late Adolescents conflict resolution skills with siblings: Associations with interparental and parent-adolescent conflict resolution. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 29, 697-711.
53.
RiggioH. R. (2000). Measuring attitudes toward adult sibling relationships: The lifespan sibling relationship scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 707-728.
54.
RiggioH. R. (2006). Structural features of sibling dyads and attitudes toward sibling relationships in young adulthood. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 1233-1254.
55.
RinaldiC.HoweN. (1998). Siblings reports of conflict and the quality of their relationships. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 44, 404-422.
56.
RokeachM. (1956). Political and religious dogmatism: An alternative to the authoritarian personality. Psychological Monographs, 70, 425.
57.
RokeachM. (1960). The open and closed mind. New York, NY: Basic Books.
58.
RokeachM. (1968). Beliefs, attitudes and values. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
59.
SaltR. E. (1991). Affectionate touch between fathers and preadolescent sons. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 545-554.
60.
ScharfM.SchulmanS.Avigad-SpitzL. (2005). Sibling relationships in emerging adulthood and adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 64-90.
61.
SegrinC.FloraJ. (2005). Family communication. Mahwah, NJ.Lawrence Erlbaum.
62.
ShermanA. M.LansfordJ. E.VollingB. L. (2006). Sibling relationships and best friendships in young adulthood: Warmth, conflict, and well-being. Personal Relationships, 13, 151-165.
63.
ShorttJ. W.GottmanJ. M. (1997). Closeness in young adult sibling relationships: Affective and physiological processes. Social Development, 6, 142-164.
64.
SteinmetzS. K. (1977). The cycle of violence: Assertive, aggressive and abusive family interaction. New York, NY: Praeger.
65.
StewartR. B.KozakA. L.TingleyL. M.GoddardJ. M.BlakeE. M.CasseW. (2001). Adult sibling relationships: Validation of a typology. Personal Relationships, 8, 299-324.
66.
StockerC. M.LanthierR. P.FurmanW. (1997). Sibling relationships in early adulthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 210-221.
67.
StormshakE. A.BellantiC. J.BiermanK. L. & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1996). The quality of sibling relationships and the development of social competence and behavioral control in aggressive children. Developmental Psychology, 32, 79-89.
68.
SturgessW.DunnJ.DaviesL. (2001). Young children’s perceptions of their relationships with family and friends: Links with family setting and adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 521-529.
69.
TeachmanJ.TedrowL.CrowderK. (2000). The changing demography of America’s families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1234-1246.
70.
TetiD. M. (2002). Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of sibling relationships. In McHaleJ.GrolnickW. (Eds.), Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of families (pp. 193-224). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
71.
TevenJ. J.MartinM. M.NeupauerN. C. (1998). Sibling relationships: Aggressive messages and their effect on relational satisfaction. Communication Reports, 11, 179-186.
72.
TillmanK. H. (2008). Co-resident sibling composition and the academic ability, expectations, and performance of youth. Sociological Perspectives, 51, 679-711.
73.
TriversR. L. (1974). Parent-offspring conflict. American Zoologist, 14, 249-264.
74.
TuckerC. J.McHaleS. M.CrouterA. (2001). Conditions of sibling support in adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 254-271.
75.
VangelistiA. L. (2006). Family communication theories: Variations and challenges. In BraithwaiteD. O.BaxterL. A. (Eds.), Engaging theories in family communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. xi-xviii). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
76.
VespoJ. E.PedersenJ.HayD. F. (1995). Young children’s conflicts with peers and siblings: Gender effects. Child Study Journal, 25, 189-213.
77.
WhiteL. K.RiedmannA. (1992). When the Brady Bunch grows up: Step/half- and full sibling relationships in adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 197-208.
78.
YuJ. J.GambleW. C. (2008). Familial correlates of overt and relational aggression between young adolescent siblings. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 655-673.
