Agreement in children’s evaluations of their relationships with siblings and friends

Congruence constitutes a relevant topic in studying interpersonal relationships from a theoretical and methodological point of view but it has rarely been analysed systematically. The main goal of this study was to explore the grade of congruence in sibling and friend dyads. Forty-eight children, their sibling closest in age and their best friend were recruited. Subjects were between 6 and 11 years of age (M = 8.8, SD = 1.4). Friend dyads were of the same age and mostly also of the same gender. An age gap ranging from 1 to 4 years characterized sibling dyads (M = 2.5; SD = 0.9), which varied in terms of gender pairings. Children completed a verbal and a pictorial task. Analyses of their responses focused on four dimensions: Affection, Conflict, Power and Similarity. Members of friend dyads showed significant agreement on Affection and Conflict. Moreover, members of the same sibling dyad appeared to be unrelated in presenting Affection, Conflict, Power and Similarity. These results seem to be unaffected by the sample characteristics in terms of the dyads' gender composition and age gap. Findings are discussed in relation to the differences in nature between the sibling and friend relationship. Congruence in friends may reflect similarities between partners and a strategy to protect the relationship. Independence between siblings may be explained by differences between partners and by the permanent character of the relationship, which is not threatened by the existence of differences of opinion.