As some North Dakota residents know, growing up in a big family can be chaotic. It can also be a blast and instill a deep connection between you and your siblings. According to researchers, a large family can have other benefits, like reducing your chances of divorce.
According to researchers at Ohio State University, the more siblings you have, the more likely you are to have good social skills that can help make your marriage successful. They said that the risk of divorce drops by 2 percent for every sibling a person has. The advantage plateaus at seven siblings. Despite the fact that the study is based on data collected from more than 57,000 people over 30 years, some are skeptical of its reliability.
Among the skeptics are a sociologist and a demographer. They both seemed to think that it is possible that having more siblings reduces your chances of divorce, but both were quick to say more information from additional studies was needed.
School, some say, puts everyone on the same playing field when it comes to social interaction. Even an only child can gain the social skills necessary to be successful by interacting with peers in a classroom or in extacurricular activities.
While this study certainly presents some interesting information, you probably shouldn’t start worrying if you’re an only child or only have one sibling. There are many factors that play into a divorce, and it is likely that the number of siblings you have wouldn’t be the main one if you did end up choosing to divorce.
Source: USA Today, “Growing up with more siblings could reduce divorce risk,” Sharon Jayson, Aug. 13, 2013
