Structural Variations in Inter-Sibling Affect

Although sibling interaction is a very prevalent form of behavior, it has received relatively little attention by sociologists. The topic is important as one aspect of family behavior and for the effects of the interaction on socialization and other dimensions of family interaction, such as husband-wife relations. The present study analyzes data from over 8000 subjects on sibling affect as related to sex of subject and sibling, age of subject (junior or senior high), older versus younger sibling, and family size. Females are more likely to have high affect toward siblings than males, the same-sex sibling is preferred, affect is higher, on the average, toward older than younger siblings, it decreases with age, and is stronger in two-child families.