Abstract

The article presents the analysis of interviews with adults who recall their relations with siblings. Differentiation processes are taken into consideration with a particular concern. Deidentification processes determine how siblings, especially of the same gender, develop individual characteristics, sense of identity in interests, views and manner. The theoretical background to the conducted study is F.F. Schachter's (1976, 1978) concept and W. Toman's (1961) theory of family constellations considering the connections between birth order and personality traits. F.F. Schachter's deidentification concept concerns which sibling pairs differ the strongest and presents developmental function of this process.

Key words: siblings, family constellations, deidentification processes, identification, rivalry

Introduction

Cain and Abel, Antigone and Polynices, Hansel and Gretel, Kai and Gerda are sibling archetypes which have placed in world culture and survived in people's consciousness. They are examples of emotionally multicoloured relations between siblings, there can be found care, love, devotion, conflict, jealousy and so extreme envy that might be fatal. They let us become familiar with these emotions in real brother-sister relations. Research on family usually considers pairs parents-children or parents. Siblings have been neglected, the influence of relations between brothers and sisters on their later friendship and intimate relationship was undervalued. Psychoanalysts make much of a contribution to conceptualize brother-sister relationships (Walewska, 2011).