Compatibility and Conflict: Negotiation of Relationships by Dizygotic Same-Sex Twin Girls

Abstract

This article conceptualizes the child as having active agency in the constructions of their social worlds, and reports on a study that understands the twin experiences from the perspectives of the twins. It examines how twins account for their relationships with their co-twins. The study drew on accounts of 60 twin children — 10 monozygotic (MZ), 10 dizygotic (DZ) same-sex, 10 DZ opposite-sex pairs — aged 5 to 10 years and their parent (n = 30). The children engaged in a sticker activity in which they represented their friendships, including their friendship with their co-twin. Using the task as a resource, the children were asked about their friends, the attributes of friendship and examples of everyday friendships encounters. These were audio-recorded and transcribed. Further, parents completed a questionnaire that provided demographic information and asked parents about the children's social experiences including twin children's time spent together, shared interests and their co-twin relationship. Using data from the pictorial representation from the sticker task and parent questionnaires, differences in relationship between MZ, DZ same-sex and DZ opposite-sex twins were examined and used to select a smaller sample for detailed study. DZ same-sex twins tended to view their co-twin less favorably and there was a nonsignificant trend in which conflict was elevated, compared to the other two groups. Based on these findings, the transcripts selected for analysis focuses on the DZ same-sex girls. The girls reported that they had differences of thought, activity and self-presentation. Conflict, competition and challenge as types of social interaction were described, suggesting that the everyday relationship of the twin with her co-twin is always being negotiated and realigned. Evident here is the complexity of social interactions in which the twins engaged everyday with each other.