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June 30, 2006
Most Remain Close to Siblings, yet Not the First to Turn to
By Tara Regan
A large majority (91%) describe "close" relationships with their siblings growing up with more than half (55%) describing their sibling relationships as "very close" according to a recent Time Poll conducted nationally.
- Less than 1-in-10 (8%) describe their relationship with siblings growing up as "not close."
Thinking about their current relationships with siblings, many (82%) still describe their relationship with siblings as close, with about half (49%) saying they are "very close" with siblings today.
- Women are more likely than men to describe their sibling relationships growing up (59% vs. 52%) and now (55% vs. 42%) as "very close."
- Similarly all female sibling households are more likely than all male sibling households to report "very close" relationships now with each other (48% vs. 31%).
| Would You Describe Your Relationship with Your Siblings as... | ||
| Base: Grew up with siblings | ||
| Total | Growing Up (%) | Now (%) |
| Very close | 55 | 49 |
| Somewhat close | 36 | 33 |
| Not very close | 6 | 9 |
| Not close at all | 1 | 4 |
| Would You Describe Your Relationship with Your Siblings as... | ||
| Base: Grew up with siblings | ||
| Total | Growing Up (%) | Now (%) |
| Women | ||
| Very close | 59 | 55 |
| Somewhat close | 33 | 28 |
| Not very close | 4 | 8 |
| Not close at all | 2 | 3 |
| Men | ||
| Very close | 52 | 42 |
| Somewhat close | 38 | 38 |
| Not very close | 9 | 10 |
| Not close at all | 1 | 5 |
Birth Order and Closeness
Middle children are slightly more likely than oldest and youngest children in a family to describe "very close" relationships with siblings growing up (61% middle vs. 52% youngest vs. 53% oldest).
- This trend continues to adulthood as middle children are also more likely to describe their relationship with their siblings now as "very close" compared to oldest and youngest children (53% middle vs. 47% oldest vs. 47% youngest).
Do Sibling Relationships Deteriorate with Age?
About two-in-five (40%) say that their relationship with their siblings has stayed the same as they have gotten older, while a little more than one-third (36%) say they have gotten closer to siblings with age. About one-in-five (20%) say they have become less close to their siblings with age.
- Adults under the age of 30 are more likely to say they have become closer to their siblings with age compared to adults age 30 and older (42% vs. 35%).
Playing Favorites
A little more than 3-in-4 (78%) say that their parents treated all siblings equally while almost one-in-five (18%) disagree and believe their parents had a favorite. Similarly, most (84%) say that they did not consider their siblings "rivals for attention" growing up, although 14% say they did.*
- Middle and youngest children are more likely to believe their parents had a favorite compared to oldest children (21% middle vs. 18% youngest vs. 15% oldest).
- Women are also more likely than men to believe their parents had a favorite (20% vs. 16%), and that they considered their siblings rivals in getting attention (17% vs. 8%).*
*Note smaller base: Question asked of 238 respondents
Who Would You Confide in First?
A little more than two-in-five (44%) adult Americans would most likely turn to their spouse or partner first to talk about a personal problem or issue.
About one-in-five (20%) would first turn to a friend and one-in-ten (10%) would turn to their parents. Less than 1-in-10 would first consult a sibling (7%), their children (6%) or a colleague (2%).
Men and Middle Aged Americans More Likely to Turn to Spouse First
Gender and age play a role in who you are most likely to turn to with a personal problem:
- Men are more likely than woman to turn to their spouse first with a personal problem (51% men vs. 36% women). Women are more likely to first turn to their children (9% vs. 3%), friends (23% vs. 18%) and parents (11% vs. 9%).
- Adults less than 30 years old are more likely than adults over 30 to first approach their parents (24% vs. 7%), friends (32% vs. 17%) and siblings (9% vs. 6%). Adults over 30 years old are more likely than their younger counterparts to first consult their spouses/partners (49% vs. 24%).
- Adults 65 years old and older are more likely to consult their children than those adults under the age of 65 (25% vs. 2%).
| When You Need to Talk to Someone about a Personal Problem, Who Are You Most Likely to Talk to First? | |||||||
| Base: 1,003 American Adults | |||||||
| Total (%) | Male (%) | Female (%) | Age 18-29 (%) | Age 30-44 (%) | Age 45-64 (%) | Age 65 or Older | |
| Spouse/Partner | 44 | 51 | 36 | 24 | 54 | 51 | 38 |
| Friend | 20 | 18 | 23 | 32 | 21 | 17 | 12 |
| Parents | 10 | 9 | 11 | 24 | 12 | 6 | * |
| Sibling | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Children | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 25 |
| Someone you work with | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Someone else | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 11 |
| Depends | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Don't know/Refused | 2 | 3 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 5 |
The Average American Family
A vast majority (93%) grew up with siblings.
Methodology
This Time Poll was conducted by telephone between June 27 and June 29, 2006 among a national random sample of 1,003 adults, age 18 and older throughout America. The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of adult Americans.
The margin of error for the entire sample is approximately +/- 3 percentage points. The margin of error is higher for subgroups. Surveys are subject to other error sources as well, including sampling coverage error, recording error, and respondent error.
Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs designed the survey and conducted all
interviewing. The full Time questionnaire and trend data may be found in the related link below.
Related Link
