Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Links between nonshared friendship experiences and adolescent siblings' differences in aspirations
1Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom. t.kretschmer@sussex.ac.uk
Abstract:
Using a sibling design, this study examined the association between adolescents' friendship experiences and their aspirations for self-acceptance, affiliation, and financial success. We hypothesized that adolescent siblings would differ in their aspirations and that unique experiences in friendships would be associated with these differences. Within our sample of 102 same-sex sibling pairs (mean age older sibling 16 years, younger sibling 14 years), only a small degree of sibling similarity was found for aspirations as well as friendship experiences. Self-acceptance and affiliation were positively linked to general friendship positivity as well as to positive features of the adolescents' closest friend. Bivariate model-fitting techniques revealed that nonshared processes (i.e., unique to each child in the family) explained these links between friendship experiences and aspirations. The results indicate that growing up in one home and being socialized by the same parents does not make adolescent siblings similar in their aspirations but rather that nonshared experiences like those with close friends are related to aspiration dissimilarity of siblings.
Related Concept Videos
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings
Friendships and Close Friendships
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth. This guiding role...
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison
