Have you ever looked around the dinner table and wondered which of your siblings your parents liked the most? If you’re the youngest son, look away now.
A new meta-analysis published in the journal Psychological Bulletin has revealed that eldest daughters are more likely to receive preferential treatment from their parents.
Researchers studied 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and 14 databases to evaluate how the birth order, gender, temperament and personality traits – such as extraversion and neuroticism – of 19,469 participants were linked to parental favouritism.
Though researchers expected to find that mothers favoured daughters and fathers favoured sons, the study found that both mothers and fathers were more likely to have a daughter as their favourite child.
When looking at birth order, parents were more likely to give older siblings greater autonomy, which researchers recognised as preferential treatment. They also classified favouritism as being shown through how much money parents were spending on their children, as well as how much control they exerted over them.
Of the personality traits evaluated, children who were responsible and organised were awarded with more favourable treatment. This suggests that parents may find these children easier to manage and may respond more positively.
“For decades, researchers have known that differential treatment from parents can have lasting consequences for children,” said lead author Dr Alexander Jensen, an associate professor at Brigham Young University, US.
“This study helps us understand which children are more likely to be on the receiving end of favouritism, which can be both positive and negative.”
Jensen and his team also found that siblings who received less favourable treatment tended to have overall poorer mental health and more strained family relationships.
“It is important to note that this research is correlational, so it doesn’t tell us why parents favour certain children,” Jensen continued. “However, it does highlight potential areas where parents may need to be more mindful of their interactions with their children.”
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