golden child (plural golden children) One who is favored or the favorite (in a family, on a team, at work, etc.), often held in high esteem by others, and for whom there are high hopes.
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.
What is a golden child? "When people use the term 'golden child' or 'golden child syndrome,' they are referring to a child who has been deemed by their family—most often the parents—to be exceptional in one way or another, but without a foundation for the attributed exceptionalism," explains Smith.
Of all the roles children play in the narcissistic family, the favored "golden" child is most likely to develop a narcissistic personality because of the toxic mix of enmeshment, neglect, and entitlement they experience.
The Scapegoat Child: The Other End of The Spectrum
Conversely, for every golden child, there is also normally a scapegoat in the mix. This is the child who gets the brunt of the blame when bad things arise in a dysfunctional family. Essentially, the scapegoat role is to be the antithesis of the golden child.
Powers and Abilities
Radiates a golden glow when in contact with any magical item. Their tears are capable of restoring or removing magic from any item or person. They also work in healing wounds and scars. Their blood can grant immortality.
According to Roberts, they live in a world of delusions and lies they tell themselves to avoid feelings of vulnerability. "It is this psychological aspect of their personality disorder that has one of the largest and most damaging impacts on their children.
Narcissistic personality disorder affects more males than females, and it often begins in the teens or early adulthood. Some children may show traits of narcissism, but this is often typical for their age and doesn't mean they'll go on to develop narcissistic personality disorder.
To summarize, overparenting, lack of warmth, leniency, overvaluation and childhood maltreatment have all been associated with higher levels of narcissism. However, these parenting behaviours have often been examined in isolation or in different combinations, with mixed findings.
A golden child's sense of self and their personal boundaries are erased, as their own sense of identity is replaced with the need to live up to their role. Their behaviors and beliefs reflect what their parent expects of them, and they may feel incapable of individuation even in adulthood.
When a baby inherits skin color genes from both biological parents, a mixture of different genes will determine their skin color. Since a baby inherits half its genes from each biological parent, its physical appearance will be a mix of both.
“Parents may favor one child over another, for a lot of reasons. The child may have an easy temperament or might behave particularly well. They may look like you, or remind you of a favorite relative,” says Susan Newman, Ph.
While the golden child lives in what appears to be glory from their parents, the scapegoat deals with the exact opposite. The scapegoat of the family often suffers more overt types of emotional, and sometimes physical, abuse.
An Alpha child might be described by their parent as being demanding, bossy or commanding in a way that goes beyond the average preschooler's feeling that the world revolves around him or her.
Scientists estimate that 20 to 60 percent of temperament is determined by genetics. Temperament, however, does not have a clear pattern of inheritance and there are not specific genes that confer specific temperamental traits.
Narcissism tends to emerge as a psychological defence in response to excessive levels of parental criticism, abuse or neglect in early life. Narcissistic personalities tend to be formed by emotional injury as a result of overwhelming shame, loss or deprivation during childhood.
Forthcoming in the journal Psychological Bulletin, the study compiled 31 years of narcissism research and found that men consistently scored higher in narcissism across multiple generations and regardless of age.
Social learning theory holds that children are likely to grow up to be narcissistic when their parents overvalue them: when their parents see them as more special and more entitled than other children (9).
The golden child may start acting up once the scapegoat goes no-contact. They may resent their sibling has “broken free” from the cycle of abuse. Golden children are under immense pressure to remain perfect- the scapegoat's absence only reinforces this pressure.
One of the most highly genetically inherited psychiatric disorders is bipolar disorder which may affect as much as 1-4% of the population. Bipolar disorder is characterized by periods of depression followed by periods of abnormally elevated mood (mania/hypomania).
Because of verbal abuse, scapegoated children rarely feel emotional safety and are often unable to trust people or their own instincts — not being able to distinguish what's true and not.
The penalty for failure is criticism and disappointment from parents and other caregivers. And very often, the Golden Child interprets this as a withdrawal of love. Love therefore becomes conditional. The agreement is this: The child succeeds, and the parents in return bestow their love.
Narcissistic parents often subject their golden child to the so-called emotional incest, which is when a parent makes their child their confidante and turns to them whenever they need emotional support.
Many describe their childhood as one of being a “verbal punching bag” for their brother or sister, cruelty which often remains hidden to parents as the narcissistic child endeavours to maintain the appearance of perfection to authority figures.