In particular, researchers from Brigham Young University found that sisters help protect their siblings from “feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious, and fearful. What we know suggests that sisters play a role in promoting positive mental health,” Alex Jensen, assistant professor in BYU’s School of Family Life, said, “and later in life they often do more to keep families in contact with one another after the parents pass.”⁠ ⁠ The same Brigham Young University study discovered that having a sister can help you become a kinder, more giving person. That’s because sisters are promoting positive social behaviors such as compassion and altruism when they show love and affection. The strengths of these effects aren’t even replicated in loving parental relationships.⁠ ⁠ “Even if there is a little bit of fighting, as long as they have affection, the positive will win out,” lead study author Laura Padilla-Walker, a professor in BYU’s School of Family Life, said in an interview with ABC ...