Perceived Sibling Use of Verbally Aggressive Messages Across the Lifespan

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine perceived siblings' use of verbally aggressive messages across the lifespan and the impact of these messages on liking, trust, and commitment. Participants were 272 individuals who reported on their relationship with a sibling. Results indicated that (a) the perceived sibling use of verbally aggressive messages decreases across the lifespan in that verbally aggressive messages are used more frequently in young adulthood than in either middle adulthood or late adulthood and (b) perceived use of some of these verbally aggressive messages are related indirectly to sibling liking, trust, and commitment. Future research should examine how siblings respond to these verbally aggressive messages and whether their response is mediated by liking, trust, and commitment.

Keywords:

• Siblings
• Verbal Agressiveness
• Liking
• Trust
• Commitment

Notes

Note: 1 ^a  = Young adulthood, 124 participants. 2 ^b  = Early and middle adulthood, 72 participants. 3 ^c  = Late adulthood, 76 participants. Means sharing subscripts across each row are significantly different from each other. ∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01.

Note: ∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott A. Myers

Scott A. Myers (PhD, Kent State University, 1995) is an Associate Professor

Alan K. Goodboy

Alan K. Goodboy (MA, West Virginia University, 2004) is a doctoral student