Perception of Sibling Relationship during Middle Adulthood Years: A Typology

Abstract

The present investigation was undertaken to identify the type of sibling relationship prevalent during middle adulthood years on a sample of 120 married adults (40-60 years) having at least one living biological sibling with the age difference of 1-4 years from purposively selected nuclear families of Udaipur city of district Udaipur of Rajasthan state. Adult Sibling Relationship Scale was developed, standardized, and used to identify the type of relations middle-aged adults have with their siblings. Five type of sibling relationship i.e. Intimate, Congenial Loyal, Apathetic, Hostile were identified based on contact among siblings, emotional closeness, confiding and conflict. The results revealed that majority of the respondents i.e. (33.34%) have Loyal type of relationship followed by Apathetic (29.17%) Congenial (24.16%) and Intimate (7.50%). Only 5.83 per cent of respondents depict Hostile style of relationship pattern. Z-test revealed a significant difference with respect to gender regarding quality of sibling relationship None of the male respondent fall in the Intimate and Hostile category, only female respondents had Hostile and Intimate kind of relationship with their siblings. Higher number of male respondents i.e. 38.33 per cent had Apathetic type of relationship with their siblings. Whereas 33.34 per cent of female respondents have Loyal type of sibling relationship.