Parental Favoritism In Childhood

Continuity of Parental Favoritism and Sibling Rivalry Many people might believe that parental favoritism is only in childhood. In reality, parental favoritism has lasting effects on both the parent-child relationship and on the children themselves. “In this study, last-born adult children were substantially more likely to be named as those to whom their mothers were most emotionally close, and firstborn children were most likely to be chosen as those to whom their mothers would turn in crises or when facing personal problems” (Suitor and Pillemer, 2007). This study shows that parental favoritism, specifically a mother, continues into adulthood. The study also says that non-first or last-born children are at a disadvantage when it comes to …show more content…
Try as they might, when an adult looks back on their childhood and how the mother favored another child, it caused conflict between siblings (Suitor et. Al, 2009). This study goes on to say that in adulthood, perceived favoritism is different than what the mother usually reports. This may be because in adulthood favoritism is defined differently than in childhood. Adulthood favoritism stems from emotional closeness, while childhood favoritism is just general knowledge. Favoritism in adulthood is not much different than the favoritism that is in childhood in the sense that the effect it has on the structure of the family and the amount of conflict that each sibling has with each other and their parents is quite similar in …show more content…
Multiple studies show that birth order affects which child will get the most resources and quality time. Even when a perceived favorite child is rebellious, like most last-born children, parents tend to not change which child is their favorite in the long run; they tend to only let it be a small blip in a big picture of who the favorite child is. The middle child tends to be the child that is perceived the least as the favorite. Society somewhat contributes to this, as being a middle child is a stereotype for being the least understood or the least liked by parents. Perception on who is the favorite child actually impacts who is the favorite child. The Pygmalion Effect shows that whichever child is perceived to be the favorite will usually be the favorite because they want to live up to the expectations that are given to them by both their other siblings and the parents themselves. Perceived parental favoritism doesn’t only have an effect on the children while they are young; it also affects the sibling’s relationships with each other when they become adults as well. Even when the children become adults, most parents still have a favorite child. There are many consequences of being a favorite child, such as being less independent and having an unrealistic expectation on what the world will do for them. The unfavored children actually tend to be more