Competition among siblings could backfire

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A Virginia psychologist warns that fostering competition between children won't create a batch of super siblings and may produce negative results.

Debbie Glasser, editor of NewsforParents.org, said there is no formula for creating talented, high-achieving siblings such as athletes Peyton and Eli Manning or actors Joan and John Cusack, USA Today reported Wednesday.

"Growing up and hearing 'Why can't you be like your big brother?' if anything, would turn a second sibling off of pursuing whatever it was that the older brother or sister was doing," Glasser, a Richmond, Va., psychologist, said.

Glasser and other experts warned that a strategy of pitting one child in the family against another could backfire.

Wendy Grolnick, professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., told USA Today pressure produces only short-term results.

"You may get your kids to do some things but parents who are really pushy and controlling really do undermine kids' underlying motivation," Grolnick said.