Younger sisters of aggressive older brothers: A study of one aspect of the sibling relationship.
Item
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Title
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Younger sisters of aggressive older brothers: A study of one aspect of the sibling relationship.
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Identifier
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AAI8821070
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identifier
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8821070
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Creator
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Buchwalter, Juliet Anne.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Steven Tuber
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Date
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1988
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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The study explores the impact of aggressive adolescent boys on the development of internal object representations in their younger, latency-aged sisters. Twenty-four brother and sister pairs were studied. The total sample was divided into two groups based upon the degree of aggressive behavior shown by brothers as determined by mother's ratings on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. The Rorschach Inkblot Test was used to assess the level of internal object representation in the sisters. It was hypothesized that sisters of the relatively more aggressive older brothers would produce more malevolent or toxic object representational scores on the Rorschach as measured by the Urist Mutuality of Autonomy Scale and that their Rorschach protocols would also be characterized by significantly more constriction than those of the sisters of less aggressive brothers.;The primary hypotheses were not supported by the analysis of the present data. Limitations which may have precluded confirmation of the hypotheses include: (a) A lack of objective ratings in the determination of aggressive behavior in the brothers which could have prevented the two groups from being sufficiently different, and (b) too wide an age difference in the brother and sister pairs in the overall sample. Results yielded secondary significant findings: sisters of the reportedly more aggressive brothers were found to produce significantly more total responses per protocol as well as more M- scores on the Rorschach. The M- finding led to speculation that these girls may experience more disturbance in self-representation than in the level of their internal object representations.;The limitations in the study restrict the generalizability of the findings and render the meaning of the results inconclusive. Future research in this area of study must account for these limitations and alter certain aspects of the construction of the experiment if more definitive conclusions are to be drawn.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
