Finally, a study proves what sisters everywhere have always known - our brothers are so lucky to have us!
It
turns out people who grew up with sisters are more likely to be happy
and emotionally settled than anyone else. Those of us stuck with, er,
who grew up with, brothers, received a "less positive affect."
Psychologists at the University of Ulster and De Monfort University
studied five hundred seventy-one people, ages seventeen to twenty-five
to develop their theory. The subjects included people who had only
brothers or only sister, people who had both and only children.
The people who had a sister - whether it was just one or many, and
regardless of whether they had brothers too - were happier and more
ambitious than their counterparts. Overall, those who received the
lowest scores on the British psychologists' tests were men who grew up
with only brothers!
So why should parents of little girls be thanking their lucky stars?
Researcher Tony Cassidy, of the University of
Ulster, told the Daily Mail, "Our explanation for it is that the
presence of girls
opens up channels of communication and it becomes a much more
expressive situation and that's positive. Emotional expression is
fundamental to good psychological health and having sisters promotes
this in families."
As
a big sister who always begged for a little sister, and ended up with a
brother instead, I can tell you brothers aren't all that bad. But then
again, I don't know what it's like to have a sister, and my daughter is
a one and only - so I won't see it happening in my household.
But if you're planning on having more kids, maybe you should be
shooting for a girl? Better yet - have two girls, so both get the
benefits! And if you throw a boy in there, well, the more the merrier.
Via Jezebel
Image: Amazon
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