Sisters Shown to Be Great

by Liz Colville

A study released this week by the University of Ulster suggests that sisters make people “happy and balanced,” seemingly due to women’s tendencies to be more emotionally expressive.

Earlier this week, the New York Times published an essay that discusses the same study more in-depth. The essay’s bottom line is a little different than the study’s: people are people; not all sisters are spilling over with emotional openness or good listening skills; hanging out in utter silence can be as nurturing as sharing deep, dark secrets with your sib. Then there’s the BBC’s story on the study, which prominently features a delightful comment from a reader named Richard Hill from Birmingham:

I have a sister and am neither happy or balanced.

[Via]