Abstract
Consensus is the level of agreement about life felt among kin and has been identified as a dimension of family solidarity with important implications for the family network. This investigation studied the factors contributing to the consensus between older adults (age sixty-five and older) and the sibling with whom they had the most contact. Respondents (N = 275) lived in a rural/urban area. Seven independent variables were entered into a multiple-regression model to determine their relative importance to consensus of the sibling relationship. Results showed that 7 percent of the variance in consensus could be explained. Filial expectations, educational disparity, and the brother/sister link were the only variables of relative importance to older adult/sibling consensus. There was greater consensus when there were fewer expectations of the sibling, similarity of educational backgrounds, and when the respondent was male and his sibling was female. Brother/sister and brother/brother links, residential proximity, communication by mail or telephone, helping behaviors, and marital status were of no relative importance to consensus. The results suggest that factors previously found to be associated with intergenerational consensus may vary in their importance to intragenerational consensus.
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