Why Men With Older Sisters Make Better Boyfriends

Siblings are great, aren't they? I mean, there's always someone to talk to, always someone to learn from, and always someone to push the blame on if you're not willing to incur the wrath of the parental units. Siblings have a way of influencing you in ways that you may not even know. Having an older sister may make men less competitive than those who don't have an older sister. In a study conducted by Hiroko Okudaira, an associate professor at Okayama University, high school and university aged students were tasked with completing a maze challenge and math test. The first experiment had males choose whether or not they would enter into a tournament challenge type of competition. They found that males with older sisters had a significantly lower rate of event participation than those without older sisters.

Researchers believe that guys are less competitive due to two reasons. The first being role assimilation, where people somehow absorb the typical gender traits of their siblings. For example, younger brothers are more likely to just get into stereotypical girl things like watching rom-coms, and younger sisters are more likely to just get into stereotypical guy things like watching sports. The other reason being, younger siblings are just a lot less competitive overall.

Not only does dating a guy with an older sister mean he won't always be trying to one-up you, there are actually plenty of other reasons why they make for great boyfriends.

1. They’re better at talking to women.

Studies show that men who grew up with sisters tend to do better in 5-15 minute conversations with the opposite sex than men who didn't go up with sisters.

2. They don't want to see you get hurt.

Guys with older sisters have most likely seen and been around heartbreak. A guy with a sister has witnessed first hand what it's like on a woman's side of heartbreak. Just like brothers don't like seeing their sisters hurt, he won't want to see that happen to you.

3. They understand women better.

At least better than guys who don't grow up with sisters. Growing up, they've been exposed to everything: bras, tampons, lady products, and the works. They know girls aren't all glitz and glamour 24/7 because they've seen it from their sisters. They understand (as much as they can, anyway) that women get their periods, and they've been around women enough to know what happens during that time of the month and they most likely won't use that god-awful phrase: "What, are you on your period or something?"

4. They have a female role model.

The great part about having an older sibling is having someone close to you that has more life experience to guide you. A guy with an older sister can talk to her about anything from how to deal with difficult aspects of your relationship to fun, romantic date ideas. Responsible older sisters won't just throw their brothers under the bus, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. So, chances are, the advice given is going to be good.

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