Chapter 2 Your Environment Affects Who You Are
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compete with your brothers and sisters for a parent’s love or attention.
This is normal. In fact, this sense of competition with your brothers and
sisters, called sibling rivalry, can even be a good thing if it helps you
develop an understanding of sharing and compromise.
Siblings offer companionship, 2-4. This is also true in later life.
When a child is young, he or she may not seem to have much in
common with a sibling who is several years older. However, the age
differences between children seem much less significant when they
become adults. Loving family members provide a source of emotional
support to one another throughout life.
Your Peers
The influence of your peer group (people about your own age) may
currently be one of the strongest forces in your life. Your family will
continue to be a strong influence, but your peers will also emerge as an
important force. The impact of the two influences will vary as you pass
through different developmental stages of your life.
2-4
The companionship of siblings adds to their personality development.