science

Sister complex

Sister complex is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sister complex rather than just read about it. In short: A sister complex (Japanese: シスターコンプレックス) is a state of strong attachment and obsession to one's sister or sisters. In Japanese, it is commonly abbreviated as "siscon" (シスコン), in which case the term can also refer those brothers and sisters who feel a strong sense of affection or attachment to their sisters.

Key takeaways

Sister complex belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sister complex to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sister complex from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A sister complex (Japanese: シスターコンプレックス) is a state of strong attachment and obsession to one's sister or sisters. In Japanese, it is commonly abbreviated as "siscon" (シスコン), in which case the term can also refer those brothers and sisters who feel a strong sense of affection or attachment to their sisters.

History In 1917, Yoshihide Kubo stated in his work Psychoanalysis that Ophelia and Laertes (characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet) had a "brother-sister complex" relationship. In his 1932 work Psychological Analysis, Kubo called the father-daughter relationships arising from sexual instinct "father-daughter complex" and that between mother and son "mother-son complex". He argues that brother-sister complexes are transferences of the "father-daughter complex" and the "mother-son complex". However, Kubo's theories, like much early psychoanalytic thought, were speculative and based on literary interpretation rather than empirical research, and they are not considered scientifically credible today. The word "sister complex" was used in Hiroyuki Itsuki's novel Koiuta, which was serialized from October 12, 1967, to May 11, 1968.

Overview The term "sister complex" is wasei-eigo and was originally a slang term for a related type of fetishism. However, in analytical psychology, the concepts of fetishism and complex are related, so the whole idea was generalized into the term "complex". If the other party is a brother, it is called a "brother complex". The sister complex can be understood in the form of a brother who has "love feelings for his sisters" and an "exclusive desire to own them". For men with a sister complex, older and younger sisters can become a target of sexual admiration, as well as idealized archetypes, to the point of being more influenced by them than by their parents. For instance, such men might choose a lover or spouse who is similar to or has something in common with his sister. On the other hand, the term may also be used to describe women who are obsessed with sisters, in which case it is often seen relatively positively as "a woman who longs for her older sister" or "a woman who loves her younger sister". Nobuhiko Obayashi described author Osamu Tezuka as having a sister complex, citing an episode in which Tezuka said, "There was nothing more erotic than having my younger sister drawing manga by my side." According to Obayashi, authors with a sister complex are characterized by the fact that they "do not grow roots in the ground", instead continuing to search for their lost "sister" while "jumping out of the earth and going to space or into the future." In addition, Obayashi states that they give up on sex when they realize that they can only love their sister. Obayashi mentions Akira Kurosawa, Howard Hawks, as well as Obayashi himself as examples of authors leaning towards a sister complex. Yoshihiro Yonezawa cites Tezuka's sister complex as one of the qualities he couldn't show to other people. Author Shotaro Ishinomori stated that he has a sister complex towards his older sister. Naohiro Fumoto quoted the poems of Ono no Takamura and Ariwara no Narihira, who seemed to be attracted to their sisters, pointing out that they had a sister complex. Fumoto also described Yukio Mishima in the same way, mentioning that Mishima had confessed that he loved his sister Mitsuko Hiraoka and that he also wrote works such as Tropical Tree which included incestuous themes.

See also Brother complex Oedipus complex Electra complex Jocasta complex Father complex Mother's boy Incest

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sister complex

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sister complex claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sister complex before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sister complex ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sister complex

In research: Sister complex appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sister complex in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sister complex is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Complex (psychology), Incest, Moe (slang), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sister complex outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sister complex in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sister complex means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sister complex out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sister complex in simple terms?

Why does Sister complex matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sister complex?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sister complex.