Introduction
The extent of success achieved by adult siblings could be similar or differ from one family to another. This paper seeks to examine the degrees of such similarities or differences and give sociological justifications for their existence among siblings. According to Conley (2004), siblings can grow up in the same family, and one of them becomes very successful in life while the other goes through severe survival hardships. Multiple reasons contribute to the emergence and existence of these disparities in the adult lives of the siblings. This paper, therefore, seeks to explain the reasons behind such differences. Conley, in a bid to explain the differences in society attributes the family to be the source of such since it forms the basis for any individual.
Birth order in any contemporary family setting contributes to the degree of success achieved by any siblings in their adulthood. Birth order has a direct influence on the individual’s success, fate and personality achieved. The social stereotypes have an old belief that the persons born first in their families are often more responsible and accomplish high achievements in life. On the contrary, those born last become the total opposite of the firstborns while those born in the middle live average lives. The firstborns are associated with higher Intelligence quotients and success in life compared to their siblings. The aspect of birth order cultivates an attitude that “I’m the baby” for the lastborns while the firstborn’s belief that they are first and should always remain first. Those born first tend to take up more responsibilities from the family setting and undergo a kind of socialization that brings them up in the belief that they should always be the first.
Social class status/ class identity within the family is a relevant contributing factor to the existence of disparities amongst adult siblings. Over the life of a family, there occurs identifiable mobility upwards or downwards, and that exposes the children to different conditions as they grow. As they grow up within the same family, children work hard to improve on their identities within the family. They all aim at achieving the highest possible sense of belonging to the family, and this triggers a stiff competition as they struggle to de-identify themselves within the family. In the de-identification process, the young siblings adore their elders and try to imitate their traits to a certain point when they discover it's impossible to be like their seniors, and so they develop their unique survival attributes. The comparison tendency amongst siblings persists into adulthood, and the siblings discover that their success levels are unique and can’t be leveled. By the time the siblings enter adulthood, they have already established their specific life niches.
According to Conley, (2004), the discrepancies displayed by the siblings in adulthood are born from the family set up. This illustrates the inequalities that exist between the siblings in within the family. He further illustrates this argument by highlighting the lives of Roger and Bill Clinton. These two siblings lead two different types of lives in adulthood, the former lives in turmoil while the latter lives in affluence. In their case, it’s evident that the influence of social forces operating within the family is critical in determining the siblings’ adult lives.
Parental time and attention play a significant role in shaping the character and future of children in any family. The child's natural abilities and the behaviors of the parents play a major role in drafting the future life of the children. Happy or good marriages have been associated with the creation of more friendly and successful kids in adulthood. The type of parental behavior exhibited as the siblings grow a direct impact on their relationships. Any parents who operate on differential treatment amongst their children risk polarizing the children and damage their bond. The roles played by parents in a family also contribute significantly to the success of their children. For example, roles played by the father and the mother in a family setting define the roles that could be assumed by the sons and the daughters respectively. Natural abilities are genetically limited and the fact that each has a unique genetic composition, the success of siblings in their adult lives is naturally determined despite being brought up in the same family setting.
Significant changes in the family such as divorce or parental deaths also define the path to be followed by the siblings into adulthood. Children affected by such life misfortunes live different kinds of lives from their siblings. If these events occur when the children are already mature, they have minimal impacts on their lives. The contrary presents itself if such happens when some siblings are young. The eldest children are the direct victims of these life tragedies since they struggle to maintain their younger siblings as well as themselves. This occurs as they are compelled to assume the roles of the missing parent(s). In this case, the young ones may go up the ladder relying on the muscle of their elder sibling to achieve more success than the older ones.
Luck also defines the degree of achievement or failure obtained by an individual in life. Such adverse occurrences such as disease and accidents can stand in the way of a sibling's pursuit for success in life. This can be attributed to bad luck since it hinders them from optimal performance and during that time of minimal performance, their counterparts have all chances of working towards their success. The siblings who do not encounter such unlucky events in their lives tend to become more successful in life than their counterparts. Often, the influence of luck is attributed to the occurrence of bad things that hinder individuals from achieving.
The family financial resources and their availability to the children also determine the level of success be obtained by siblings. Those children born in reasonably affluent families and are allowed to make use of their parents’ financial resources tend to venture into investments and lead successful lives unlike those living in poverty or in rich families where they don’t have free access to their parents’ financial resources. The disparity of resources accessed by each sibling in a family can also explain any success differences in the adult lives of the siblings.
Family size can also play a significant role in the determination of success among siblings. In big families, the middle siblings are bombarded with pressure from both sides, and this could have a direct impact on their success in life. The firstborns and lastborn tend to lead lives without any pressure and as such a discrepancy could exist between such siblings despite having been brought up in the same family.
Out of the eight reasons contributing to the similarity or difference between adult siblings, luck and parental time and attention from the primary justifications for the situation in any family. The parents in any family act as the role models who are emulated by the majority of their kids. Children often take after one of their parents and thus the importance of parents in defining the future of the child. Luck determines the fate in one's life. Success or failure in some cases presents itself in a manner hard for the individuals to explain. For example, a total orphan could end up being very rich despite growing up in poverty.
References
Conley, D. (2004). The pecking order. New York: Pantheon Books.
