Why Sisterly Chats Make People Happier

[siuyuin]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/health/26essay.html

And so, the act of a sisterly chat can make people happier...

Very arguable I think. Some people prefer talking endlessly about
mundane daily affairs, while in other situations the act of creating a
shared experience from doing something can make one happier.

-siu yuin


Below is the citation, link and abstract of the research study.

Laura M. Padilla-Walker, James M. Harper, Alexander C. Jensen, Self-
Regulation as a Mediator Between Sibling Relationship Quality and
Early Adolescents' Positive and Negative Outcomes, Journal of Family
Psychology, Volume 24, Issue 4, August 2010, Pages 419-428, ISSN
0893-3200, DOI: 10.1037/a0020387.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
B6WYG-50XPS6S-6/2/0ecf1a17a65899fd2ae90c6a245463ce)
Abstract:
The current study examined the role of adolescents' self-regulation as
a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent
outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child
relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113
single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 =
11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for
blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural
equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally
and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and
negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while sibling hostility
was positively, and having a sister was negatively related to
internalizing behaviors (in general, paths were stronger for
adolescents from two- vs. single-parent families). There was also
evidence that adolescents' self-regulation partially mediated the
relation between sibling affection and positive and negative
adolescent outcomes. The discussion focuses on the importance of
continued research examining the mechanisms through which the sibling
relationship influences development during adolescence.
Keywords: sibling affection; sibling hostility; self-regulation