'Siblings better role models than parents'

Siblings shape our social and emotional development more than parents. Although a parent’s influence on a child’s development shouldn’t be underestimated, neither should a sibling’s, says an expert.

Siblings shape our social and emotional development more than parents, says an expert.

HT Image

Laurie Kramer, professor of applied family studies at the University of Illinois (U-I), says that although a parent’s influence on a child’s development shouldn’t be underestimated, neither should a sibling’s.

“What we learn from our parents may overlap quite a bit with what we learn from our siblings, but there may be some areas in which they differ significantly,”
Kramer said. Parents are better at teaching the social niceties of more formal settings — how to act in public, how not to embarrass oneself at the dinner table, for example.

But siblings are better role models of the more informal behaviours — how to act at school or on the street, or, most important, how to act cool around friends — that constitute the bulk of a child’s everyday experiences.

“Siblings are closer to the social environments that children find themselves in during the majority of their day, which is why it’s important not to overlook the contributions that they make on who we end up being,” Kramer said.