Having a sister actually makes you a better person

Lifestyle

Jul 22, 2015

Oh sisters, we love them. No seriously. Even if they steal our clothes, we can forgive them. When they never ever ask before taking our brand new jeans out into the big bad world of wine stains we grit our teeth and get over it. Eventually.

Older sisters can be like having a second parent, and that gets old quickly when you’re trying to sneak out of the house on a Friday night. Younger sisters are just as troublesome.

However, we can learn to appreciate our sisters embrace sisterhood completely.

The positive aspects of having a sister are not just limited to having a built in stylist. Science says that having a sister actually makes you a better and happier person.

So, your mom was right all those times she went on and on about sisterly love.

Psychologists from the University of Ulster looked into the emotional well-being of over 500 people all between the ages of 17 and 25.

Anybody who grew up with at least one sister was found to be happier, better adjusted to life’s challenges and less anxious.

Tony Cassidy, a researcher involved with the study tell us:

“Our explanation for it is that the presence of girls opens up channels of communication and it becomes a much more expressive situation and that’s positive.

Emotional expression is fundamental to good psychological health and having sisters promotes this in families.”

Interestingly, men with sisters have been found to be more emotionally secure according to Ohio State University’s research. The same study showed women with sisters were more likely to be comfortable in social settings.