Having More Siblings Might Lower Your Divorce Risk

If you come from a big family you are more likely to stay married the first time around, a recent study has discovered.

Researchers looked at the personal statistics of over 57-thousand people from 1970 to 2012; their conclusion is that for every sibling you have, up to seven, you reduce your chances of divorce by two-percent.

The study had nothing to say if your siblings were twins.

The American Sociological Society will hear about these findings in New York City next Tuesday.

Having more than seven brothers and sisters did not increase or decrease the odds.  The percentage of families in the United States who now have eight or more children is approximately 1.1 percent.

Researchers at Ohio State University, who initiated the data collection several years ago, noted that one interesting aspect of their investigations is that it doesn’t much matter if you are a single child or have only one or two siblings.  The “Divorce Factor” as it is called, doesn’t really start to kick in until there are four or five siblings.

“We expected that if you had any siblings at all, that would give you the experience with personal relationships that would help you in marriage,” study co-manager and assistant professor of psychology Donna Bobbitt-Zeher said in an association news bulletin.

She added that having more siblings seems to offer more experience in personal dynamics that cannot be learned in any other kind of setting or classroom; in other words, in order to get along with your mate you need to have real-life, hands-on experience with a sibling, who can simulate everything from a heated blood feud to extreme affection and trust, so that when such a person is married they already have a good idea of what the human gamut of emotions is, and will not be too surprised or discouraged, no matter what their spouse may say or do.