Having three sisters myself, I read this bit of news with particular interest today: British researchers at Ulster University found people who grew up with sisters are more likely to be happy and balanced. They found having daughters in a family also made people more open and willing to discuss feelings.
The influence of girls was found to be especially important after distressing family events.
I know my sisters have been an incredible support system for me over the years, especially since we became moms. I hope my older sister, who often worries about her two squabbling little girls, reads this and takes heart. But a note to my two brothers, who are both fathers to boys (and are also incredibly kind, intelligent, and compassionate guys, thanks in large part, I'm sure, to having four fabulous sisters): while sisters encouraged more communication and cohesion, the researchers found brothers seemed to have the opposite effect. Go figure.
I have two sisters and I agree that growing up with them has helped me to turn out more balanced. As sisters we fought, cared for each other, played house, and talked about boys which helped us to share our day to day feelings. Growing up with sisters was like growing up with best friends that you occasionally argued with. As sisters we share life together and experience many of the same things with similar perspectives. There was also a necessity to get along because we lived together and this helped us to learn how to resolve arguments and truly listen to one another.