By Rojina Kandel
According to the Oxford Dictionary siblings mean each of two or more children or offspring having one or both parents in common; a brother or sister. The sibling relationship is one of the most unique relationships and is characterized and symbolized by both love and rivalry; also, siblings hold a very important role in the development and adjustment of children to their environment and themselves.
The larger number of children around the world have at least one sibling. The relationship between siblings is more likely to last longer in comparison to any other relationship in one’s life which also plays an integral part in the lives of families. Siblings are viewed as an integral component of family systems and as an important context for children’s learning and development.
There are four major characteristics of sibling relations which are prominent in early childhood:
Sibling relationships are emotionally charged and defined by strong uninhibited emotions of a positive, negative and sometimes ambivalent quality.
Sibling relations are often characterized by intimacy: as youngsters spend large amounts of time together, they know each other very well which helps to provide emotional and instrumental support for each other.
Sibling relationships are characterized by large individual differences in the quality of children’s relations with one another.
The age difference between siblings often makes issues of power and control as well as rivalry and jealousy sources of contention for more positive types of complementary exchanges, such as teaching, caregiving and prosocial behavior.
Also, there is wide variation in how children respond to the birth of a younger sibling, most children are positive and eager to help care for the baby and exhibit little or no disruptive behavior. By early childhood sibling’s positive, friendly interactions often outweigh their negative interactions. Many researches conducted recently have found that sibling relations provide an important context for the development of children’s understanding of their social, emotional, moral and cognitive worlds.
Moreover, siblings play a key role in the development of a child’s understanding of other’s minds, namely their understanding of emotions, thoughts, intentions and beliefs. On the other hand, conflict can be an opportunity for siblings to learn constructive resolution skills, culminating in a mutually agreeable(win-win) solution for both children, emotional regulation and understanding, and considering the opponent’s perspective.
It can be concluded that sibling relationships are a natural laboratory for young children to learn about their world. It provides opportunities to learn how to interact with others who are interesting and engaging playmates, to learn how to make disagreements, and to learn how to regulate both positive and negative emotions in socially acceptable ways. In this way, it provides a venue for young children to develop an understanding of social relations with family members who may be close and loving at times and at other times, be unkind, exhibit jealousy, or act aggressively. Also, there are many opportunities for siblings to use their cognitive skills to convince others of their point of view and teach or imitate the actions of their siblings. Hence, it can be said that there is a pivotal role of siblings in the socialization of a child.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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