Having a favourite child might be the greatest taboo of parenthood, yet research shows that the majority of parents do indeed have a favourite.
Even if you don't fully recognize it, research indicates that there's a good chance that you actually do have a favorite. In fact, one study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found 74% of moms and 70% of dads reported preferential treatment toward one child.
Only 30% say they prefer the eldest. This pattern is similar to parents with three or more children who favour one above the others. Many (43%) prefer the youngest, a third (34%) a middle child and fewer (19%) the eldest. Having a favourite is controversial.
Do parents love the youngest child more? According to research, parents tend to favour the baby of the family. A UK parenting website, Mumsnet, surveyed 1,185 parents to find out if they had a favourite child. More than half of the respondents admitted to preferring the youngest child.
Researchers have found that 74% of mothers and 70% of fathers admit to having a favourite child - and children say there is a bias towards the eldest one.
Researchers found that 13.3 percent of the most attractive children were buckled while only 1.2 percent of children categorized as the least attractive were buckled. Researchers concluded that fathers were more likely to favor attractive children when buckling them into the basket.
Families rarely talk about this, but research shows that many parents do, in fact, have a favorite and least favorite child.
06/8They have a softer tone when speaking to you - it's not the same with your sibling. Whether in-person or on the phone, if you're your parents' favourite child, they're most likely to speak to you in a softer, more loving tone. On the contrary, they'll always sound strict and harsh while speaking to your siblings.
A recent study has found that it's not the youngest child that's liked the most. It's actually the eldest! While eldest children around the world have had to be the example for their younger siblings and parents being extra strict on them, it looks like there was a good reason.
Firstborns tend to possess psychological characteristics related to leadership, including responsibility, creativity, obedience and dominance. They are also more likely to have higher academic abilities and levels of intelligence than their younger siblings.
My general response is that it's a 50/50 chance that a woman will have a boy or a girl. But that's not exactly true – there's actually a slight bias toward male births. The ratio of male to female births, called the sex ratio, is about 105 to 100, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
A subsequent body of research, building over the years in the journal Evolution & Human Behavior, has delivered results in conflict with the 1995 paper, indicating that young children resemble both parents equally. Some studies have even found that newborns tend to resemble their mothers more than their fathers.
Courts make a variety of decisions that affect children, including placement and custody determinations, safety and permanency planning, and proceedings for termination of parental rights. Whenever a court makes such a determination, judges must weigh whether the decision will be in the "best interests" of the child.
According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children.
85% of surveyed parents said they trust information from teachers and child care providers. Only doctors, family, and friends were trusted more.
Overall, 38 percent of Americans who are the youngest in their family report they were the favorite, compared to 27 percent of those who were oldest. Middle children are the least likely to say they were a favorite child; only 20 percent believe they were.
Women are happiest with one child
One study looked at identical twins aged 25-45. By comparing twins, researchers could ignore genetic causes for having fewer children or being depressed. They found that a woman's first child increased her happiness. But each additional child negatively effected her well-being.
In terms of happiness, a compelling argument for having an only child comes from science that strongly indicates that mothers with one child are happiest.
As the oldest daughter enters adulthood, she may experience sadness and depression without identifying a reason for either. This state can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as personality disorders and free-floating anxiety.”
The researchers believe this is due to social comparison, with younger siblings placing more emphasis on comparing themselves to their older siblings. "It's not that first-borns don't ever think about their siblings and themselves in reference to them," says BYU School of Family Life assistant professor Alex Jensen.
Parental favoritism is when one or both parents display consistent favoritism toward one child over another. It can include more time spent together, less discipline, and more privileges. As a parent, we usually try to remain neutral and treat all of our children equally. But that task is a lot harder than it sounds.
However, if the older sibling felt they were the favorite, it actually had no effect on their bond with their parents. So basically younger children are more likely to perceive their parents prefer them, and then everyone around them believes it is true. That's how the baby becomes the favorite.
Golden Child Syndrome refers to a strict requirement of becoming perfect by parents. Children tend to have an overwhelming need to please. For example, expecting a child to score straight As, do every house chore perfectly, behave perfectly, or follow strict life rules.
There's no set genetic rule that all first born daughters look like their dads, but in many cases – thanks to TikTok – we've seen this theory proved. However, we think this is nothing more than a cute opportunity for Das to be involved with their daughters' TikTok careers.
Relationships. Middle children may have trouble feeling equal to their siblings in parental relationships. The older sibling often holds more responsibilities, and the younger sibling is well taken care of by the parents. The middle child isn't given as much attention as either.