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Understanding the Self Through Siblings: Self‐awareness Mediates the Sibling Effect on Social Understanding
Author(s) -
Taumoepeau Mele,
Reese Elaine
Publication year - 2014
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/sode.12035
Subject(s) - psychology , sibling , developmental psychology , self awareness , self , social psychology
This study addresses the role of sibling influence on social understanding in the second year of life, in a sample of families living in N ew Z ealand who identify as P acific I sland ( N = 43). We tested toddlers at 20 and 26 months on social understanding tasks, as well as their levels of self‐awareness on the S tipek self‐concept questionnaire. We hypothesized that the presence of siblings provides a rich resource from which to learn about the mind. There were significant differences in children's social understanding and self‐awareness as a function of having older siblings. Further analyses revealed that the relation between older siblings and social understanding was mediated by toddlers' level of self‐awareness.