As parents, it’s our duty to deny all claims of favouritism in the household, as we constantly solemnly swear we love our children equally.
But deep down, we know we’re lying to ourselves, and science has done the research to prove it.
Sociologist Katherine Conger conducted a study over time quizzing 384 pairs of siblings with a four-year age gap or less about how they get on with their mums and dads in comparison to their brothers or sisters.
Asking teens about their relationship with their parents? That’s territory we’re not brave enough to venture into…
Anyway, she asked them how they felt about the way their parents treated them, and if they suspected the other sibling got a better deal.
Aw, good old sibling rivalry…
Each sibling was also told to explain how the treatment made them feel, and how it affected their own self-confidence and self worth.
As it turns out, our money was on the mark, as siblings reports DID differ greatly, showing it really wasn’t all in our heads growing up.
Predictably, firstborn babies were beloved the most by gushing parents.
The first arrivals reported feeling preferred by their parents, having had more time on the earth to win over their love and affection, without older siblings getting in the way.
They hit all the milestones first, making walking, talking, acing exams and getting a job all old news by the time child two gets around to it.
Kids three and four? You can just forget about it all together…
And if you couldn’t sense from the youngest-child bitterness running through this article, Conger’s study also confirmed that the babies of the family end up feeling hard done by, and they clearly sense the household bias.
Which is bound to make younger siblings feel a little insecure here and there.
These finding came as a surprise to Conger, who told Quartz:
“Our working hypothesis was that older, earlier born children would be more affected by perceptions of differential treatment due to their status as older child—more power due to age and size, more time with parents— in the family.”
While parents eternally deny they love one child more, when it comes to speaking to official researchers, they let the cat out the bag.
Are you ready for this?
70 per cent of dads and 74 per cent of mums admitted to giving preferential treatment towards one of their kids. Let’s just hope mum and dad don’t pick the same child to spoil.
We feel cheated. Mum, we’re having stern words.
Do you think your parents have a favourite child?
And would you admit to having one yourself?
Let us know on our Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.