Siblings. Nothing unites and divides them so contradictorily. Brothers and sisters come from the same parents, share common experiences, look similar, even think alike at times. Yet, one of the most fascinating enigmas of biology is how two individuals, who have come from the same gene pool, end up as completely different personalities.
Geneticists have exposed parts of this mystery and recognize fundamental aspects of nature that make siblings unique. Genes and biology influence key factors that affect our dispositions, aptitude, and personalities such as physical characteristics, senses, and intellect and heredity plays a role in determining these qualities. So, while siblings may share similar base features, these traits can manifest differently based on exposure to various conditions or environments. For example, siblings who were raised in separate households might express contrasting opinions and values.
Though siblings enter the world with many similarities—same hue hair, facial features, DNA composition—variations brought on by genetic expression or exposure to distinct lifestyles distinguish them. Each individual harbors a certain genetic diversity, triggered by diverse combinations of genes. Also, random gene mutates may also produce wide-ranging reactions in each sibling.
Developmental psychologists insist that there are three reasons siblings grow up to be different people. First, their environment shapes their values and the emotions. Experiences within the family, such as dominant parent – child relationships and parental attachment, have a direct bearing on their personalities, values, and behaviours for the long run.
Secondly, the order in which each child was born influences the personality. Birth order often becomes an intrinsic factor of who a person is. Older children tend to be more traditional, responsible and independent as they must look out for their younger siblings and sometimes take on parental roles. The youngest often received the attention, love, but also neglect from their older siblings. As such, they are mostly self-motivated, rebel against rules and regulations, and focus on fun until it starts getting old. Meanwhile, the middle child seldomly feels like they fit anywhere.
Finally, gender has been a definitive element in molding the identity of each person within the family. Boys and girls, due to their different hormones, display dissimilar behavioral patterns and girls usually tend to behave in a more supportive and sensitive manner as compared to their male counterparts.
Almost every family has latent perceptions of how different siblings should develop, depending on their gender and birth order, that, again, molds each individual’s behavior accordingly. Therefore, genetics never fully determines who siblings become. Instead, the psychological environment within the family’s structure directly functions to scramble the identities and personalities of each child.
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