The Communication of Social Support in Adult Full Sibling and Stepsibling Relationships

• In Event: Top Four Papers in Family Communication

Abstract

The current investigation seeks to identify differences in the amount of social support received in full sibling and stepsibling relationships. Employing the ideas of discriminative solicitude, it was predicted that, in participants who had both a full and stepsibling, that participants would receive more social support from their full siblings than from stepsiblings. Results supported this prediction for all types of social support, even when social and relational differences were controlled.

Authors

• Alan Mikkelson, Whitworth University

• Annegret F. Hannawa, Arizona State University