Differential Parenting
A Research Report by Renee Nelson
April 22 2015
HPD4C
Mrs Brubacher
Introduction
Parents sometimes act differently towards one child over the other, for example being positive with one child and acting cold to the other. This is called differential parenting which is also known as favouritism. Favouritism is when you are treating one person in a positive manor and the other in a negative manor. Differential parenting is not uncommon in families. In most cases parents and other people do not see or will not accept that it happens. In most cases parents do choose to favour a child over the other. This could happen because of behavioural problems in one child while the other child is …show more content…
A study involving 406 mothers between the ages of 65 and 75 where asked which of their children would be primary care giver. Research shows that mothers will choose the child who is most like them because they have similar beliefs and values. Three quarters of the mothers picked the same child that they did when the study first started 7 years before, they even choose the favoured child over the child who is more financially stable. This study was conducted by Julie Suitor a professor of sociology (dailymail.co.uk). Scientist explored what caused differential parenting. They found that the mothers stress due to economic or personal experiences have the biggest impact on the way the mother treats her children (Waxman, 2013). The data that was collected by researches on the mothers education level, depression and history of physical and sexual abuse, they also considered the home environment and family dynamic, the scientist found was parents who came from unstable family background are more likely to treat their children differently than parents with a good upbringing (Waxman, 2013). Jennifer Jenkins notes that a mother who is stressed and has less patience for a child who has more problems will show negativity towards that child (Waxman, 2013). Megan Gilligan an assistant professor in human development studies, said “One of the biggest predictors of who remained the favourite was the mothers perception of similarity between herself and her child.” Mothers tend to favour children who remind them of themselves (dailymail.co.uk). Researchers did take into consideration the child 's financial independence, employment history, criminal record and roles as a spouse or parent themselves. Mothers still choose who was most like them despite past mistakes. The one thing that did stand out in researches studies was the gender, mothers tended to be close to the
A Research Report by Renee Nelson
April 22 2015
HPD4C
Mrs Brubacher
Introduction
Parents sometimes act differently towards one child over the other, for example being positive with one child and acting cold to the other. This is called differential parenting which is also known as favouritism. Favouritism is when you are treating one person in a positive manor and the other in a negative manor. Differential parenting is not uncommon in families. In most cases parents and other people do not see or will not accept that it happens. In most cases parents do choose to favour a child over the other. This could happen because of behavioural problems in one child while the other child is …show more content…
A study involving 406 mothers between the ages of 65 and 75 where asked which of their children would be primary care giver. Research shows that mothers will choose the child who is most like them because they have similar beliefs and values. Three quarters of the mothers picked the same child that they did when the study first started 7 years before, they even choose the favoured child over the child who is more financially stable. This study was conducted by Julie Suitor a professor of sociology (dailymail.co.uk). Scientist explored what caused differential parenting. They found that the mothers stress due to economic or personal experiences have the biggest impact on the way the mother treats her children (Waxman, 2013). The data that was collected by researches on the mothers education level, depression and history of physical and sexual abuse, they also considered the home environment and family dynamic, the scientist found was parents who came from unstable family background are more likely to treat their children differently than parents with a good upbringing (Waxman, 2013). Jennifer Jenkins notes that a mother who is stressed and has less patience for a child who has more problems will show negativity towards that child (Waxman, 2013). Megan Gilligan an assistant professor in human development studies, said “One of the biggest predictors of who remained the favourite was the mothers perception of similarity between herself and her child.” Mothers tend to favour children who remind them of themselves (dailymail.co.uk). Researchers did take into consideration the child 's financial independence, employment history, criminal record and roles as a spouse or parent themselves. Mothers still choose who was most like them despite past mistakes. The one thing that did stand out in researches studies was the gender, mothers tended to be close to the