Siblings play a unique role in one another lives that simulates the companionship of parents as well as the influence and assistance of friends.
Because siblings often grow up in the same household, they have a large amount of exposure to one another, like other members of the immediate family.
However, though a sibling relationship can have both hierarchical and reciprocal elements, this relationship tends to be more egalitarian and symmetrical than with family members of other generations.
Furthermore, sibling relationships often reflect the overall condition of cohesiveness within a family.
Siblings generally spend more time with each other during childhood than they do with parents or anyone else, and sibling relationships are often the longest-lasting relationship in individuals’ lives.
Incest between siblings is most often short-term innocent sexual experimentation by children, but has been an intentional practice among some historical ruling families.