Siblings - more than just a pain in the neck : the effects of growing up with siblings on sociability in adults

Abstract

Siblings can have a great effect on social skills learning in children since those are the people, they spend a lot of time with growing up. Interacting with siblings can prepare children for future relationships and teach them valuable lessons in communicating their needs while taking others into consideration. The purpose of this study was to research the social behavior of adults to get a better idea of their social skill level. The research hypotheses posed in this study are as follows: (1) Are adults who grew up with siblings more sociable than those who grew up as only children? (2) Are adults who had full siblings growing up more sociable than those who had different sibling types growing up? (3) Is there a significant difference in sociability in different age groups? Data was collected using an online survey and a total of 1,091 people participated. Results found no significant difference in the sociability of people who grew up with siblings versus those who grew up as only children, neither between full siblings nor other sibling types. Difference in sociability was only significant when comparing age groups of 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds. Keywords: Siblings, social skills, adults, sociability.

Systkini geta haft gríðarleg áhrif á félagsfærninám barna þar sem systkini eyða oft miklu tíma saman á uppvaxtarárunum. Að eiga samskipti við systkini sín getur undirbúið börn fyrir framtíðar sambönd og kennt þeim mikilvæga samskiptafærni líkt og það að tjá þarfir sínar og á sama tíma hugsa um þarfir annara. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að rannsaka félagshegðun fullorðinna í þeim tilgangi að skilja betur félagsfærni þeirra. Tilgátur þessarar rannsóknar eru eftirfarandi: (1) Eru fullorðnir sem alast upp með systkinum félagslyndari en þau sem alast upp sem einkabörn? (2) Eru fullorðnir sem áttu alsystkini í uppvexti sínum félagslyndari en þau sem áttu annars konar systkini? (3) Er marktækur munur á félagslyndi eftir aldurshópum? Gögnum var safnað með spurningakönnun á netinu og tóku 1,091 manns þátt. Niðurstöður sýndu engan marktækan mun á félagslyndi fólks sem ólst upp með systkinum og þeim sem ólust upp sem einkabörn, ekki heldur á þeim sem áttu alsystkini og þeim sem áttu annars konar systkini. Munur á félagslyndi var einungis marktækur þegar bornir voru saman aldurshóparnir 18-24 ára og 25-34 ára.Lykilorð: Systkini, félagsfærni, fullorðnir, félagslyndi.