Preadolescent boys' perceptions of their sibling relationships.

Abstract

Notwithstanding relationships with parents and primary caregivers the relationship a person has with a sibling is likely to be his first important autonomous relationship with another person. Siblings have the same parents and families, and they often share homes and life experiences. Relationships with siblings are frequently a person’s longest lasting relationship. However, these relationships are often complex and diverse in nature and there is no cohesive theoretical explanation for the role that these relationships play in a person’s life. Therefore this study explored how a group of preadolescent boys perceive and explain their sibling relationships. The data for this exploratory qualitative study was obtained by interviewing the group of boys, and investigated how these boys make sense of their relationships. Four main themes emerged: the role of hierarchy within their relationships, the impact having a brother or a sister has on their relationships, how the boys understand conflict and competition, and finally how they comprehend closeness and separateness within their sibling relationships. The findings highlight the complexity of these relationships and also provide interesting insight into how the boys make sense of this complexity. Most of the boys said they preferred having siblings even if they reported having difficult relationships with their siblings. On the whole the boys felt that these relationships are very important for them, in spite of them reporting that their siblings are often challenging and problematic. The findings suggest that in this small sample, sibling relationships are central for boys in their negotiation of social interactions with people who are not their parents and/or adults.