Have you ever glanced around the dinner table and pondered about your parents’ favorite among your siblings? If you’re the youngest, you might want to look away.
A recent meta-analysis published in the Psychology Bulletin reveals that eldest daughters tend to receive preferential treatment from their parents.
Researchers examined 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and 14 databases, involving 19,469 participants, to explore how birth order, gender, temperament, and personality traits impact parental favoritism. The study showed that both mothers and fathers more often favored their daughters as compared to sons.
In terms of birth order, older siblings tended to receive more autonomy, which was viewed as preferential treatment. This favoritism was also evident in the amount of money spent on children and the level of control exerted by parents.
Children who exhibited responsible and organized traits were also more likely to be favored by their parents, indicating that parents may find them easier to manage and respond positively to.
“Parental differential treatment can have long-lasting effects on children,” stated lead author Dr. Alexander Jensen, an Associate Professor at Brigham Young University, USA.
“This study sheds light on which children are more susceptible to the impacts of favoritism, whether positive or negative.”
Jensen and his team also discovered that siblings receiving less favorable treatment often had poorer mental health and strained family relationships.
“It’s worth noting that this study is correlational and doesn’t explain why parents favor certain children,” Jensen added. “However, it does highlight areas where parents may need to be more mindful of their interactions with their children.”
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
