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Closeness in Young Adult Sibling Relationships: Affective and Physiological Processes
Author(s) -
Shortt Joann Wu,
Gottman John M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9507.1997.tb00099.x
Subject(s) - closeness , sibling , psychology , developmental psychology , empathy , sibling relationship , affect (linguistics) , perspective (graphical) , social psychology , cognition , communication , mathematical analysis , mathematics , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science
What aspects of the relationships of young adult siblings are related to closeness or distance? This study takes a process approach to answering this question, contrasting it with the status approach of family structure variables. Close and distant sibling pairs were compared on physiological variables and specific aspects of warmth, con‐flict, and power during two conversations ‐ one on enjoyable topics and one on topics of disagreement. While there was no evidence that sibling closeness was related to family structure variables, differences in closeness were found in affective patterns and physiological responses during sibling interaction. Interaction between close sib‐lings was characterized not only by higher positive affect but also by fewer power struggles and lower heart rate reactivity. Close siblings also had higher scores on emotional empathy and cognitive aspects of empathy such as perspective‐taking than distant siblings. The developmental importance of considering power struggles in young adult sibling relationships was also discussed.