The Apparently Depressing Truth

[Rantz]

I think my mum cares for us all equally, but she was always a bit disconnected from me and my brother because she probably thought she had little to teach us and few common interests. So when my sisters came along and turned out a lot like her I think she felt more in touch with them. She's as much of a mum to all of us, but I guess she's better "friends" with my sisters.

My dad is kind of hard to read on that and I don't think he has a clear-cut favourite - but if anyone is, it's me. Again, it would simply be because I turned out so much more like him than any of my siblings, and I think he's always seen me as the intellectual and mature one, even though the oldest of my younger sisters is just like me in that aspect. She's a few years behind, but we're practically the same when it comes to personality and behaviour. Ah well.

[Jessweeee♪]

My parents always spent more time yelling at my brother than me, but this was due to our natures. From the time we were born I was a quiet baby while he was a more fussy and adventurous one. He's approaching 16 and I'm 19 and we're still like that. So because he's getting in trouble more often and therefore being spoken to harshly more often he feels like my parents play favorites. The reality is my mom made every effort she could not to play favorites. If my brother was too young or too immature to do something I wasn't allowed to do it either! I think she gave up on that when they adopted two of my cousins, so I was able to drive at least xD

[Old Manus]

bawww my parents prefer my brother because that one time they went to see his football match and I swear they cheered louder

[Shiny]

Despite being an only child, I was their least favorite.

That is both funny and sad at the same time.

[aquatius]

I think I've kind of become the favourite because I'm the most academically successful, but I don't necessarily think it was always that way.

I'm the youngest, my sister is the middle child and my brother's the oldest. My brother was born out of my dad's first marriage where his wife committed suicide soon after my brother's birth, so my dad married my mother when my brother was a few years old. As a result my brother was fairly problematic because of the death of his biological mother, and even after my sister was born I think he got more attention. I've got much closer with my mother recently because of my success, but I feel that my sister was always slightly ignored compared to me and my brother, but by no means in a huge way.

While favouritism can be damaging, I think the studies mentioned in this article sound a bit crap. The answers given could be interpreted in many different ways and just because kids think their parents have favourites when they don't, it doesn't necessarily mean they suffer huge psychological damage as a result.