Research Paper
The International Journal of Indian Psychology
ISSN 2348-5396 (Online) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (Print)
Volume 9, Issue 2, April- June, 2021
DIP: 18.01.138.20210902, DOI: 10.25215/0902.138
http://www.ijip.in
© 2021, Arora S. & Teotia A.; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Comparison Between Only Child and Child with Siblings on
Adjustment and Personality
Saloni Arora
1
*, Anu Teotia
2
ABSTRACT
A sibling relationship is likely to be the most lasting in our lives. It has an important role not
only in the family life but also influences our adjustment and wellbeing in social
circumstances. However, in the face of failing fertility and increases in divorce, the number
of children growing up without other children in the household has increased as families have
become smaller. The term adjustment refers to the degree to which an individual’s
personality functions effectively in the world of people. Personality refers to the unique and
relatively stable qualities that characterize a person’s responses to life situations over a period
of time. The aim of the research was to compare the level of adjustment and personality in
only child and child with siblings. For this purpose, a sample of 100 adolescents (50 only
child and 50 sibling child) was taken. NEO-FFI and Adjustment Inventory for College
students were used as tools. The results indicate that sibling child are more adjusted than only
child and also there are significant differences on the dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion
and openness to experiences. Since the results show that adjustment is comparatively low in
only child, it indicates that being an only child is a disadvantage in itself as they are always
over pampered, and given undivided love which in turn leads to some form of maladjustment
in important areas of functioning. Also, since sibling child are high on neuroticism,
extraversion and openness to experiences, it indicates that how having a sibling affects the
overall development of an individual which have a crucial role to play in how an individual
perceive and interact with others, and how open he/she is to new ideas and experiences.
Keywords: Sibling Child, Only Child, Personality, Adjustment, Sibling Relationship
iblings play an important role in the social lives of most individuals. Most adolescents
consider a sibling a best friend and report positive feelings about their sibling, and
they also frequently interact with them. (White and Riedman, 1992, Spitze and Trent,
2006). Recent results in America indicate that only 3 percent of adults think the ideal
number of children for a family to have is one (Carol, 2007). According to National Survey
of Families and Households (1990), many couples think about having another child, so that
their son or daughter will have a sibling which is a concern for childbearing. Hence, Sibling
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education, National Council of
Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India
2
Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, Amity University, Noida, Uttar
Pradesh, India
*Corresponding Author
Received: April 21, 2021; Revision Received: May 22, 2021; Accepted: June 21, 2021
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