What influences the way we communicate?

Sibling relationships can be important and influential throughout the life span.

During childhood, siblings can influence both personality development and behavior. In adulthood, siblings can be an important source of friendship, support, and information. In old age, siblings are often an important source of both emotional and tangible support.

Sibling communication is not something that is easy to explain. There are many different ways to look at the reasons of why siblings communicate the way that they do. Here are just a few. 1. Communication motives 2. Birth order 3. Family relationships. mProbe3.pdf

Communication Motives ONE WAY TO LOOK AT THE REASON WHY SIBLINGS COMMUNICATE IS TO LOOK AT THEIR COMMUNICATION MOTIVES. COMMUNICATON MOTIVES ARE PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS AND HOW PEOPLE COMMUNICATE TO SATISFY INTERPERSONAL NEEDS (Graham, Barbato, &Perse, 1993). THESE MOTIVES INFLUENCE WHO PEOPLE TALK WITH, HOW THEY TALK, AND WHAT THEY TALK ABOUT. IN ADDITION, THESE MOTIVES INFLUENCE SATISFACTION IN THE RELATIONSHIPS AND SUCCESS IN PERSONAL GOALS. THE MOTIVES ARE AS FOLLOWS; 1. Affection 2. Control 3. Escape 4. Inclusion 5. Pleasure 6. relaxation

People communicate for affection to show caring feelings towards others, Control involves the need to have power and influence in an interaction. In the Escape motive, one communicates to fill up time or procrastinate on an activity. People communicate for inclusion to satisfy a need to establish and maintain Relationships with others. Pleasure involves communicating because it is fun And entertaining. In the sixth motive, relaxation, one communicates to unwind and calm down.

Birth order The order in which siblings are born is another variable that may affect how siblings communicate with each other. For ex, siblings may be treated differently by their parents depending on their birth order, and the birth order may affect the sibling relationship in terms of support felt by one’s siblings and conflict between siblings. Children who are middle born Express more closeness with friends and less with family members, than do children who are first born or last born. The results of an analysis indicated that; a.first-born individuals are more extroverted, assertive, and organized b. later-born individuals are emotionally stable, approachable, and easygoing (Sulloway,1995). c. these characteristics affect the communication between siblings

Family relationships Although people have no choice in selecting their siblings, people do decide how, when, and why they communicate with their siblings. The family environment (for ex. Age differential between siblings, whether their family is intact) affect the relationships between siblings. Reports state that siblings from intact families communicate more with each other and reported being closer to each other than did siblings from non-intact families. Sibling relationships beyond adolescence become more Challenging to maintain as the siblings begin their own families and as the physical distance grows between them. Also researchers have found that the number of siblings in the household also affect the siblings individually and the sibling relationship.

In conclusion, sibling motives, birth order, and family relationships all play a part in the way that we communicate with each other.

References Graham, E.E., Barbat, C.A. & Perse, E.M. (1993). The interpersonal communication motives model. Communication Quarterly, 41, Sulloway, F.J. (1995). Birth order and evolutionary psychology: A meta-analytic overview. Psychological inquiry, 6, Websites: Media clip: