Cassandra Dean (left) says of her relationship with her fraternal twin Alexis Dean: “We’re really different people, but somehow we ended up on similar paths.” . Credit: Matthew Modono/Northeastern University
Cassandra Dean and Alexis Dean are fourth graders who have a lot in common. They are fraternal twins who attended Northeastern University together.
Both are honors students majoring in health sciences. At Northeastern, they joined the same research team. They were employed by the same emergency department cooperative at Massachusetts General Hospital. They participated in the same Dialogue of Civilizations last summer. And they are now applying to many of the same physician assistant programs.
“We believe that Alexis and Cassandra made independent decisions about their college choices, majors, and career plans,” says Northeastern applied psychology professor Laurie Kramer. “But they have made the exact same choices about their futures over and over again.”
The Dean twins, assigned work-study assignments in Northeastern University’s John Martinson Honors Program, were looking for perspective on their relationship. How could so many independent choices lead to so many identical outcomes?
They were conveniently able to turn to Kramer for advice and support because she directed the University Honors Program.
“It was always so funny because everyone was wearing masks back then,” Kramer said of the COVID-19 era. “They’re in the office, but they were literally indistinguishable while wearing masks. I had to check the schedule to see who was at the desk that day.”
The deans asked Kramer for help in developing a research project focused on how twins make college decisions.
Their study, “Reinforcing twin identity: Balancing sibling solidarity and disidentification,” published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, will be presented at an academic conference in November.
“We’re really different people,” Cassandra Dean insists. “But somehow we ended up going down this similar path that felt like an accident. So we wondered if the other twins had similar experiences, or if that was the case for me. I wondered if the experience would have been different for them. “
“It’s well balanced”
Kramer said growing evidence suggests that siblings influence each other’s development and well-being throughout the lifespan.
Twins tend to maintain the closest relationships of all siblings. But little is known about how twins influence each other’s development in adulthood, Kramer said.
Dean et al.’s research provides insight into a critical period in the twins’ lives.
“Going to university is a major turning point in life, the first time young people discover what they will do, where they will go and, most importantly, who they are. That could be part of the opportunity,” Kramer said.
“When students go to university for the first time, there is a sense of freedom and an opportunity to make new friends and pursue new interests. I often hear from young people entering university that this is their first experience. Explore what you are truly passionate about or explore your identity for the first time, perhaps your sexual or gender identity.
“As we found in our study, many twins felt that this was the first time in their lives that they could choose how close they could be to their sibling or how far apart they could be.”
Together with Melissa Morgan, a graduate student at Northeastern who was pursuing a master’s degree in applied psychology, the research team organized interviews to learn about the twins’ experiences going to college. The researchers interviewed 40 people, all of whom were identical or fraternal twins, most of whom were current students at Northeastern University.
Kramer said the findings were mixed but revealing.
“We realized that we had been thinking about these issues a little bit oversimplified,” Kramer said.
Previous research on twins in college has tended to focus on the question of whether twins imitate each other, focus on exploring differences, or both. A key finding of the Northeast study showed that both options may apply simultaneously.
“Twins really want to connect with each other,” says Kramer. “They want to maintain close relationships, but they also need to find a way to chart their own identity and life plans. What they’re striving for is balance.”
Although most of the twins considered their close relationship to be an advantage, the majority of those interviewed were actively trying to be themselves. Of the 20 pairs of twins, only five, all identical twins, chose to maintain a strong connection to each other as they pursued relationships and careers.
“They loved the fact that they had someone to keep them company during the stress of starting college, being in a new environment, and making friends,” said Kramer, a participant in the study. Talk about the twins. “The sense of security that someone else knew you so intimately was priceless, and many of them realized that not everyone has someone like that in their life. I was disappointed that it wasn’t.
“But they also wanted their individuality to be recognized.”
healthy competition
The duality of living as twins, exploring individuality while valuing relationships, was true even for the deans, who were acutely aware of the differences between twins.
“I think I’m usually more of an outgoing person,” Alexis Dean says.
“And I’m a little more reserved,” Cassandra Dean added. “It’s interesting because when we talk together, we use a lot of similar mannerisms and feed off each other’s energy. But when you get to know us separately, we You will find that it is actually quite different.”
The study found a level of competition between the twins that Kramer characterized as constructive and surprising.
“Many of these twins talked about competition as something they often worked on,” says Kramer. “It wasn’t to be mean or mean to each other, but rather to encourage each other to do their best. It was a way to monitor how well they were doing compared to their siblings.
“They wanted to do a little bit better than their brothers, but not so far ahead of their brothers that it would cause difficulties for either of them. So they did what I expected. “We looked at competition in a much more positive light than previous studies.”
The deans nodded in agreement as the twins explained their sense of healthy competition.
“If Cassandra gets a good score on a test, I’ll be very happy for her and it will motivate her to do better,” says Alexis Dean. “We have the same major, so we’re in the same classes and study together. When I see her studying, I think, ‘I have to do this too.'”
“If I got a better score on the same test,” Cassandra added, turning to her sister. It doesn’t work out the way you hoped. ”
A study by Dean and colleagues found that the relationship between twins influences their early childhood development.
“We find that as twins go through different stages of life side by side, they discover what makes them unique and what makes them individuals,” says Cassandra Dean.
“Some twins realize their desire to be different early in life, while others live a life of codependency until they’re ready to be independent and find their own way through college and beyond. Sometimes they go on to graduate school. So we realized that it’s more of a process of growth than trying to be similar or different.”
The study is positive for the dean as he looks ahead to his final year at Northeastern University. They are currently applying to the Fall 2025 Physician Assistant program. Are they going to stay together? Will they break up? they don’t know.
“It’s very competitive to get into these programs,” says Cassandra Dean. “If we got into the same school and it was a good fit, I can’t imagine a situation where we wouldn’t go (together).
“It’s the same as in undergrad. We’re both on our own trajectories and kind of parallel.”
Further information: Laurie Kramer et al., “Establishing Twin Identity: Balancing Sibling Unity and Disidentification,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (2024). DOI: 10.1177/02654075241265474
Provided by Northeastern University
This article is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.
Citation: Can twins make independent decisions while following the same career path? Research Exploring ‘Individuality’ (September 27, 2024), September 27, 2024 https://phys. Retrieved from org/news/2024-09-twins-independent-decisions-identical-career.html
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