When children apologize, they accept responsibility for wrongdoings and act to reconcile social relationships. Apologies to siblings were coded in 40 families that were observed for 9 h when children were 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old, and again 2 years later. We found that sibling apologies were rare, generally simple in form, and more frequent after…

Given the importance of mutual understanding for constructive conflict resolution, this study investigated the influence of information-sharing on siblings faced with conflicts of interests. Thirty-two sibling dyads (ages 4.5 to 8) participated. Siblings were asked to negotiate the division of five toys between themselves. Half of the pairs first…

Preschoolers' theory of mind (ToM) was examined in relation to emotional features of their conflicts with siblings, using mothers as privileged informants. Fifty-four children aged 3 to 5 years and their 54 mothers took part. Children were given 10 standard false belief tasks and a standardized language test. Mothers completed questionnaires,…

This study investigated associations between preschoolers' conversations about internal states and their spontaneous appraisals of self and sibling. Thirty-two preschoolers (M age = 3.9 years) were observed during naturalistic home interactions with mothers and younger siblings. Various features of mothers' and children's internal state language…

Although commonly cited as explanations for patterns of sibling similarity and difference, observational learning and sibling deidentification processes have rarely been examined directly. Using a person-oriented approach, we identified patterns in adolescents' perceptions of sibling influences and connected these patterns to sibling similarities…

Parent and sibling influences on children's development of conflict management strategies were examined. Data consist of naturally occurring, in-home sibling disputes of 37 families at two time points. The siblings were approximately two and four years old at Time 1, and four and six years old at Time 2. Parents' and children's use of conflict…

Similarities and differences in adolescent siblings' free time activities were investigated. Firstborns and second-borns from 181 predominantly White, working, and middle-class families reported on their time use and sibling relationships. Their parents reported on their socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics. Cluster analysis…