Family, migration, and attitude formation: The role of siblings in shaping gender attitudes


Rachel Rammal, McGill University

 The present study explores two main questions: 1. How do siblings shape individuals’ social and political attitudes on gender, such as views on abortion, perspectives on gender parity in the labour market, and self-reported household division of labour? 2. To what extent does the influence of siblings on these gender attitudes and behaviours vary among immigrants, the second generation, and the majority population? In the sociological landscape on attitudinal formation, siblings tend to assume the role of the often-overlooked middle child, somewhat overshadowed by the more traditional influences of education systems, peer dynamics, and parent-child relationships. These conventional factors are well-known to shape individuals’ social and political attitudes. However, emergent research reveals the independent influence of siblings in shaping attitudes on a range of social issues from gay rights to immigration—beyond the conventional trifecta of school, peers, and parents. Growing up with many siblings tends to correlate with more conservative views, with gender composition playing a role in shaping enduring attitudes toward gender roles. While this evolving literature predominantly centers on sibling dynamics within national majority populations, sociological and anthropological insights propose that sibling relationships in migrant families introduce unique dynamics. Migrant siblings, who frequently exhibit higher scores on familism values, increased contact and lower conflict levels, compared to their native-born peers, prompt the need for further exploration into how these dynamics influence gender attitude formation, particularly within the context of migration. This study utilizes the second edition of the French dataset Trajectoires et Origines (TeO2), a nationally representative survey that gathers data from 27,000 respondents. This dataset explores the living conditions and trajectories of first-generation immigrants, the second generation, and the descendants of France-born natives. To explore whether migrant-specific acculturation processes influence the relative importance of sibling effects on gender attitudes, I employ ordinal probit regression models. These models assess views on abortion, perspectives on gender parity in the labour market, and individuals reported division of household labour across each migrant category. The analyses include considerations for social network contact with friends, peers, family, and cross-border relations, while controlling for respondents gender, marital status, employment status, educational attainment, parental education, political affiliation, and religion. Preliminary findings on the abortion item indicate that an increase in sibship size, treated as a linear variable (ranging from 0 to 10 siblings), is linked to decreased support for abortion across the entire sample (p < 0.001). Subsequent models using precise sibship categories suggest varying levels of statistical significance among different migrant categories. Among first-generation immigrants, the most pronounced statistical significance (p < 0.001) is observed for respondents with 5 siblings or more, for the second-generation, 4 siblings, while for the majority population, having 3 siblings was sufficient to predict lower support for abortion. In the model assessing the presence of siblings (versus being an only child), the mixed gender composition (having both brothers and sisters) is negatively associated with support for abortion for first-generation (p < 0.001), second generation (p < 0.001), and descendants of France-born natives (p < 0.01). Frequent cross-border contact is associated with reduced support for abortion for first generation immigrant (p < 0.001), and the second-generation (p < 0.001), whereas it contributes to pro-abortion attitudes in the majority population (p < 0.01). Additionally, frequent contact with friends correlates with heightened support for abortion among first and second-generation respondents (p < 0.05), but not within the majority population. Lastly, frequent family contact is significantly associated with reduced support for abortion exclusively among the second-generation (p < 0.05). Initial observations suggest that growing up with a greater number of siblings correlates with higher conservative beliefs regarding abortion, irrespective of migrant background. However, a fewer number of siblings appears to contribute to this effect in the majority population. Notably, in the context of the second-generation, the effect of sibship size appears to be partly influenced by increased kin-based interactions. The discussion will assess the relevance of an existing mechanism in which larger sibships, by promoting increased kin-based interactions, mediate a shift toward more conservative beliefs marked by a decline in generalized trust toward out-group members. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: