<p> The sibling relationship is one of the longest lasting human relationships with significant influence on an individual’s social and emotional functioning. The current study was designed to examine both personal and parental influences on the sibling relationships of emerging adults. Specifically, it tested the mediating role of fairness evaluations on the links between parental differential treatment, personality and the quality of sibling relationships. A theorized path model was developed, and tested using Structural Equation Modeling. A total of 775 undergraduates at a northeastern university, who nominated a ‘target sibling’, completed the Big Five Inventory, the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale, the Sibling Inventory of Differential Experience, and fairness of parenting ratings.</p><p> The results indicated that the individual’s perception of parental differential treatment, and the extent to which they evaluated that treatment as fair, were important predictors of the quality of sibling relationships. Moreover, the individual’s personality was related to perception of fairness as well as the quality of sibling relationships.</p><p> More specifically, unequal parental treatment was associated with poorer sibling relationships and higher perception of unfairness regarding this treatment. Individuals who perceived a lower degree of parental differential treatment were likely to evaluate these treatments as more fair, and to report better relationships with their siblings. Furthermore, participants who scored high on Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness and low on Neuroticism were likely to have better relationships with their siblings. Moreover, participants who were high on Conscientiousness and low on Neuroticism tended to evaluate parental treatments as highly fair and were likely to report better relationships with their siblings.</p><p> Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research, as well as some ways in which parents can encourage their children to evaluate parental treatment as fair, were discussed.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10127186 |
| Date | 09 August 2016 |
| Creators | Gozu, Hamide |
| Publisher | State University of New York at Albany |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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