Ethnic Varizations in Sibling Relationship

Research studies have examined the impact of the sibling relationship on a person’s development, and have identified some of the factors that influence the sibling relationship including parenting style, age of the siblings, gender of siblings, and some aspects of family cultural values. However, studies have not examined, in depth, how ethnicity impacts the sibling relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of ethnicity on the sibling relationship. It is expected that sibling relationships in ethnic groups with more collectivist cultural values (i.e., Asian American, Latino American, African American, Middle Eastern) are expected to be warmer, more supportive, and show less conflict and rivalry than sibling relationships in ethnic groups with more individualistic cultural values (i.e., Caucasian American)