Researchers always emphasize the importance of the family in the child’s cognitive, social and personality development.
However, in the emphasis on family, the emphasis is on the parents, ignoring how the relationship between siblings shapes both academic and social relationships.
In fact, the sibling relationship is the longest lasting in interpersonal relationships, and it is experienced between siblings for longer than the relationship with parents in human life. Sibling relations are environments where new experiences, sharing, conflicts and jealousy are experienced, and at the same time, it is learned to find solutions to problems. For this reason, it is frequently discussed that sibling relationships are one of the strongest elements of social development. However, how siblings influence each other’s academic success is a bit more murky. Contrary to what is idealized, siblings are not born equipped to love each other. Sharing parental attention drives siblings to innate rivalry. This is why sibling rivalry, even jealousy, is natural. However, if jealousy turns into healthy competition over time, it can become a developer. Conflict and jealousy can vary by age and gender. For example, jealousy and conflict with childhood and adolescence can be seen in very concrete examples. Being jealous of each other’s toys or clothes is the first thing that comes to mind. In adolescence, the conflict issues change, and there may be problems in the group of friends, entering the personal space, and whether the parents act fairly or not about the rules.
Conflict and jealousy between siblings can vary by birth order and gender. Older siblings often have more conflicts over personal space than younger siblings. For example, older siblings may perceive their younger sibling’s entering their room as an attack on their private space, while younger siblings may perceive the older sibling’s entering their room as bonding. Same-sex people conflict less than different sexes, sisters, brothers.
Emotional attachment between brothers is generally lower. Another important factor affecting conflict and jealousy is the age difference between siblings. Studies have shown that when siblings have an age difference of six or more, their relationship is not close. Relationships get closer as the age gap decreases. However, when the age difference is 2 or less, rivalry and conflict between siblings increases. If jealousy and conflict in later ages turn into a lack of communication due to the unfair and biased attitude of the family, it can negatively affect well-being, increase the level of depression, anxiety and loneliness, and lead to various behavioral problems. . As a result, conflict and jealousy appear in different combinations in every period of sibling relationships. Different factors can either turn this jealousy into healthy rivalry or drive siblings into hatred. The most important of these factors is the attitude of the parents. A fair relationship between parents increases the intimacy between siblings. According to studies, the education level of siblings who have a close relationship is close to each other. However, siblings whose rivalry turns into fierce jealousy due to the wrong parental attitude have opposite educational and socio-economic status. In other words, research confirms that there is a significant relationship between sibling relationships and academic achievement. It is seen that while siblings with a positive relationship have good traces on siblings over time, it has a bad effect on those who have a negative relationship. A positive relationship between siblings affects personality development, social development, emotional development and sense of trust positively. It also positively affects academic achievement. For example, the fact that a child spends most of his time at home interacting with his siblings before starting primary school is an important factor affecting school readiness. In addition, playing with older siblings, engaging in oral activities and listening to stories from them positively affect the language development of young children.