Black Sheep In The Family Not As Common As You Think – Dave’s Diary

Coming out of the holiday season and all those family gathering we are reminded that there seems to be one in every family. It seems all families have a “black sheep” member that presents unique challenges or difficulties. 

But the watchword is “seems”.  A new international study says black sheep are actually rare and only appear in a family once every 97 years on average. Guess they didn’t study my family!

Let’s define our terms--Black Sheep are often described as difficult, often having disagreeable political views or tricky love lives. 1 in 10 could actually have trouble with the law.

Researchers had over 6,000 adults from around the world to look at their family trees to identify relatives who didn't fit in with the rest of the family. Participants identified around six percent of adults in families as black sheep, meaning one appears about every three generations. The study seems to be a bit generous but we don’t have any conflicting data so we’ll take them at their word…for now!

The number one reason participants named someone a black sheep was if the person didn't see their family enough or if that individual didn't get along very well with their other relatives.  (Daily Mail) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2879909/Why-family-s-black-sheep-rare-beast-Just-one-appears-97-years-one-ten-cast-adrift.html