And What About Siblings? A Longitudinal Analysis of Sibling Effects on Youth’s Intergroup Attitudes

Abstract

Within the process of political socialization, the family is of particular importance. Apart from parents, however, little is known about the role of other close family members. The present study examined if siblings affect each other's intergroup attitudes (i.e., intolerance towards immigrants, social dominance orientation). Drawing on a sample of 362 sibling dyads (older siblings: M = 17.77, 53.6% female; younger siblings: M = 13.61, 61.3% female), the results showed that older siblings' intergroup attitudes predicted younger siblings' attitudes, but this effect was moderated by gender. Specifically, older siblings' intolerance and social dominance orientation were only found to affect their younger sisters, yet not their younger brothers. Although younger siblings' intergroup attitudes had no main effect on older siblings, a significant moderation by age indicated that younger siblings affected older siblings' social dominance orientation with increasing age. These moderation effects of age and gender were not mediated by the quality of family relationships. The findings also remained the same when parental intergroup attitudes were taken into account. While siblings were generally identified as an important agent of political socialization in youth, the results also highlight the necessity to further examine the mechanism that either facilitate or hinder sibling effects.

Dialogic reading with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) kindergarteners: Does reading with parents or siblings enhance their language development?

“…The social learning perspective model (SLPM; Bandura, 1992) posits that relative to family guardians (e.g., parents), older siblings have a greater potentially positive impact on the language development of younger children because of their close age and generational experience (Eckstein et al, 2018; Spector & Charlop, 2018). Older siblings also serve as sources of a language learning model for younger children during their preschool years (Eckstein et al, 2018; Milevsky, 2016; Obied, 2009). For example, Eckstein et al (2018) showed that younger sisters showed a significantly better performance in their vocabulary after a learning interaction with their older siblings.…”

“…Older siblings also serve as sources of a language learning model for younger children during their preschool years (Eckstein et al, 2018; Milevsky, 2016; Obied, 2009). For example, Eckstein et al (2018) showed that younger sisters showed a significantly better performance in their vocabulary after a learning interaction with their older siblings. Empirical research has supported the use of older siblings–instructional interventions in enhancing the receptive vocabulary development of younger children (e.g., Shivers & Plavnick, 2015).…”

“…Apart from parents, older siblings are essential family members who engage in interactive literacy communication with younger children. The social learning perspective model (SLPM; Bandura, 1992) posits that relative to family guardians (e.g., parents), older siblings have a greater potentially positive impact on the language development of younger children because of their close age and generational experience (Eckstein et al, 2018; Spector & Charlop, 2018). Older siblings also serve as sources of a language learning model for younger children during their preschool years (Eckstein et al, 2018; Milevsky, 2016; Obied, 2009).…”

Factor Structures of General Health Questionnaire-12 Within the Number of Kins Among the Rural Residents in China

“…For example, a systematic review reported that sibling influences depended on siblings’ frequent and emotional intense interactions and siblings’ role in large family system dynamics (McHale et al, 2012). Considering age ranking, recent adolescence literature has confirmed the psychological interactions between older siblings and younger siblings during adolescence with increasing age (e.g., Eckstein et al, 2018; Wang M.T. et al, 2019).…”

Activating effects of elections: changes in young voters’ political engagement over the course of an election year

“…Of the many factors that shape young people's political development, experiences in proximal contexts, such as home, school, or the peer group, have gained particular attention (Neundorf and Smets, 2017). Research has shown that young people encounter politics at school (Miklikowska et al, 2019;Noack and Eckstein, 2023) and adopt political attitudes from parents (Miklikowska, 2016;Legget-James et al, 2023) or other family members (Eckstein et al, 2018). Yet, in line with contextual models of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), more distal macro-contexts such as societal events (e.g., wars, political upheavals, scandals) also play a role.…”