Cause And Effect Of Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry

According to the University of Michigan Health System, sibling rivalry refers to the jealousy, competition and rivalry between siblings.

Main ideas:

Causes and effects of sibling rivalry

Parental attention:

a) Since parents have a limited amount of time that they can spend with their children, the attention gets divided between the siblings. Since, there is a limited time period, each child wants as much attention as he/she can get.
b) Siblings may feel that the other child is getting more attention.
c) They may fight to take out their frustration about the other child getting more attention or to get the attention of their parents. This can result in physical injuries and may cause a life long dent in the siblings’ relationship.

At all stages however, they are engaged in developing different aspects of their personalities, cognition and emotions. As children have different interests at different ages, they will have low tolerance towards their siblings who are interested in other things. As they are young and are not mature enough to offer selfless attention their siblings, it will result in sibling rivalry.

c) Even if the sibling rivalry happens at a young age, its effects don’t show up until the child matures and reaches adolescence. When the child reaches adolescence, all the bottled up rage starts to manifest itself in the form of destructive behaviour against himself or others.
Sibling rivalry influences the personality traits of children.
a) Sibling rivalry has an effect of the social skills of a child. According to the Utah State University, “sibling rivalry is an uncivilized way of expressing ones self, indicating a lack of proper social skills.” Without good social skills, a child would feel left out in social situations and would also find it difficult to foster

Most of us have the idea that siblings are supposed to be close and are supposed to be friends. This makes dealing with sibling rivalry more difficult. People hang on to the expectation that siblings should be close and keep on trying to bond with the sibling, and keep on getting rejected over and over again. This results in anger, hurt and self-doubt. These feelings persist over the years and it can cause emotional issues and sometimes even self-sabotage, according to John V. Caffaro.
Psychologists at The University of Missouri conducted a research on this topic and surveyed 145 adolescent sibling pairs. The children were asked questions about their sibling relationships, their self-esteem and about symptoms of depression and anxiety. It was found that children with high self-esteem had fewer issues with their siblings in the beginning of the study. Children who had more problems with their siblings in the beginning of the study were more likely to develop mood problems over the year. It was also found that children who argue with their siblings about ‘fairness and equality issues’ like whose turn it is to do the dishes, are at a very high risk of experiencing depression. Siblings who have ‘personal domain conflicts’, like borrowing things without asking, are more likely to experience