Reports that, according to Nebraska sociologists Lynn White and
Agnes Riedman, as fertility rates decline and divorce rates remain high,
the solidarity of blended sibships will become increasingly important for
preserving a sense of family. Proximity; Age; Race; Sex; Religion;
Family; Gender of step-parent.
By
PT Staff, published on November 01, 1992
Stepsiblings
IF THE BRADY BUNCH KIDS left home, would they keep in touch? Or
would the three golden girls lose track of their darkhaired stepbrothers?
We'll never know for sure, but if the nation's favorite fantasy family is
anything like real America, chances are that the stepsiblings would
remain friends.
At least for awhile. The bonds, however, might grow weak with
age-just when siblings tend to need each other most.
As fertility rates decline and divorce rates remain high, the
solidarity of blended sibships will become increasingly important for
preserving a sense of family, report Nebraska sociologists Lynn White,
Ph.D., and Agnes Riedman, Ph.D. So they looked at the ties that bind
among a sample of 11,000 adults from the 1987-88 National Survey of
Families and Households.
For starters, they're not as sociable as their full-sibling
counterparts. But 99.5 percent of step- and half-siblings know where
their counterparts reside, the team reports in the journal of Marriage
and Family (Vol. 34, 1992).
And stepsibs see each other one to three times a year. That
surprises White, a professor at the University of Nebraska. "My initial
expectation was that adults would have a great deal less to do with
stepbrothers and -sisters than their full siblings."
Along with Riedman, of Creighton University, White found a
smattering of differences in the relationships between kin and non-kin
sibs. From these, the team identified seven factors that facilitate
contact between step-, half-, and full siblings:
o Proximity. Step-, half-, and full sibs living within 300 miles of
each other report more contact than those far away.
o Age. Step- and half-siblings visit each other more often as young
adults than when older.
o Race. Black respondents contact their step half-, and full
siblings far more often than non-blacks.
o Sex. Women are more likely than men to see their stepsibs.
o Religion. Catholics are slighly more likely than nonCatholics to
stay in touch with with their step- and half-sibs.
o Family. The later step- and half-sibs leave home, the more
contact they have with all their adult sibs.
o Gender of step-parent. Sibs who live with a stepfather visit
their sibs more often than those living with a stepmother.
Say White and Reidman: Step- and half-siblings may be less distant
than once believed, but they may not feel as obligated as full sibs "to
drop everything and go feed sick sibs chicken soup."
PHOTO: Are Greg and Marsha still close? Does Peter stay in touch
with Jan?
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