Sibling Position同胞兄弟姐妹的地位
Bowen theory incorporates the research of psychologistWalter Toman as a foundation for its concept of siblingposition. Bowen observed the impact of sibling position ondevelopment and behavior in his family research. However,he found Toman's work so thorough and consistent with hisideas that he incorporated it into his theory.The basic idea is that people who grow up in the samesibling position predictably have important commoncharacteristics. For example, oldest children tend togravitate to leadership positions and youngest childrenoften prefer to be followers. The characteristics of oneposition are not "better" than those of another position,but are complementary. For example, a boss who is anoldest child may work unusually well with a first assistantwho is a youngest child. Youngest children may like to bein charge, but their leadership style typically differsfrom an oldest's style.
Toman's research showed that spouses' sibling positionsaffect the chance of their divorcing. For example, if anolder brother of a younger sister marries a younger sisterof an older brother, less chance of a divorce exists thanif an older brother of a brother marries an older sister ofa sister. The sibling or rank positions are complementaryin the first case and each spouse is familiar with livingwith someone of the opposite sex. In the second case,however, the rank positions are not complementary andneither spouse grew up with a member of the opposite sex.An older brother of a brother and an older sister of asister are prone to battle over who is in charge; twoyoungest children are prone to struggle over who gets tolean on whom.
People in the same sibling position, of course, exhibitmarked differences in functioning. The concept ofdifferentiation can explain some of the differences. Forexample, rather than being comfortable with responsibilityand leadership, an oldest child who is anxiously focused onmay grow up to be markedly indecisive and highly reactiveto expectations. Consequently, his younger brother maybecome a "functional oldest," filling a void in the familysystem. He is the chronologically younger child, butdevelops more characteristics of an oldest child than hisolder brother. A youngest child who is anxiously focusedon may become an unusually helpless and demanding person.In contrast, two mature youngest children may cooperateextremely effectively in a marriage and be at very low riskfor a divorce.