A Quantitative Study Investigating the Effect of Age and Gender on Adult Sibling Rivalry.

The current study looked to observe whether gender and age had a significant effect on the occurrence of adult sibling rivalry.A modified version of the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (Stocker et al., 1997) was distributed to 116 adults aged between 18 and 69. Sibling rivalry was measured looking at six key characteristics; conflict, jealousy, admiration/pride, superiority and maternal/paternal rivalry and closeness. Data was analysed using a series of ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests. Sibling Rivalry was found to be highest in Males aged 46+ and a significant main effect was found between participants aged 18-28 and participants aged 46+. A further significant main effect was found between age groups 18-28 and 46+ regarding sibling conflict and superiority. However, no significant effect was found between age and gender regarding sibling admiration/pride, closeness, jealousy and maternal/paternal rivalr