How much does a sibling relationship impact their mental health? How impactful is our culture in contributing to the role of siblings upheld?
As a brother, sister, mother, father, caregiver, or lover, we put energy into improving relationships for benefit of all people involved to live in harmony. Read on a reflection on the role of siblings in development and health.
This article will help you understand the importance of sibling relationships and how complex their dynamics are so you can improve your own, understand others, or simply learn more!
Meanwhile, take note that the sibling relationship is greatly neglected in psychological practice, and more research needs to be done for comprehensive conclusions to be drawn.
So, how much do we know till now? And, what can we learn?
In the Netherlands, scientists gathered global research studies that investigate the role of siblings in children’s mental health. This was done at the level of internalizing problems vs externalizing problems, which is the act or process of turning problems or feelings inward or toward oneself vs problems that are manifested in children’s outward behavior negatively affecting the external environment.
The goal was to determine how siblings’ warmth and sibling conflict relate to the onset of a child’s mental health disorder or psychopathology. Results show that sibling warmth protects children from psychopathology and promotes the internationalization of problems rather than maladaptive externalization. On the other hand, sibling conflict is positively correlated with child psychopathology and externalizing problem. Moreover, differential treatment of siblings promotes poor mental health and a push towards externalizing problems. This means disregarding consistent and persistent tension or fighting between siblings is disregarding their mental health and wellbeing indicators.
On top of that, siblings’ age and gender impact how much warmth and conflict between them will affect the situation of externalizing or internalizing problems. It is expected that same-sex siblings and siblings closer in age are more heavily impacted by the nature of the relationship since these siblings may be more alike and influence each other strongly. How much this is true in the Arab World is yet to be discovered, however, one can ponder and argue against this. It could be that opposite-sex relationships are stronger in our cultures that value gender roles and harmony between a sister and a brother.
It does not stop there! Another key learning is that in the western world, studies on sibling roles have looked at different variables such as the effect of gender and also saw how siblings affect each other in terms of identity. In comparison, studies in the Arab world are very limited and haven’t considered the impact of different variables extensively.
At the level of Arab cultures, the limited findings show there are different expectations for brothers where brothers are socialized to receive more from sisters than they give. Sisters are expected to give more due which is partly due to gender roles and in some cases, this state can mimic how the mother is contributing more at home toward the father’s needs. Thus, there is the impact of gender in understanding the role of siblings demonstrated.
As individuals living in a society aiming to connect and feel a sense of belonging, culture has a great impact on many dynamics such as that of a relationship including the expectations in it and aspirations.
Therefore, together, let us reflect on how culture impacts this topic; we can consider the role of culture and look at the effect of gender and birth order. It is interesting to think about how this plays out in the Arab World, a very heterogeneous culture. When the brother is older, he is expected to protect the sister in the Arab world at the level of physical safety. Brothers may also take on this role due to the importance they put on the reputation of their sisters in a collectivistic culture. For example, they can be more involved in judging the romantic relationships of sisters than in other cultures. In more individualistic cultures, brothers may not feel the need to intervene in such situations as they realize that the wider society would not have a negative outlook on the sister’s romantic life.
Therefore, the brother’s relationship with a sister can be related not only to birth order but also to how the brother seeks to ensure that the sister maintains an overall positive reputation in cultures that are more traditional when it comes to accepted social relationships.
The purpose of this article was to share with you a summary of the understanding researchers gained surrounding sibling relationships and mental health.
From here, it is your role to take this information as a means to forge a better perspective and create a path toward healthier encounters and exchanges.
We should also keep in mind that the impact of siblings on each other and their mental health must be investigated further to draw more concrete action steps and recommendations for improving siblings’ relationships.
Let us part with these questions…
Why do siblings act the way they act?
Why do siblings expect certain things from one another?
Putting yourself in their shoes will be a great step towards increased social wellness!
