Why do Mommy and Daddy love you more? An investigation of parental favoritism from an evolutionary perspective
Year: 2009
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The current study examined the roles of parental certainty and offspring's ability to convert parental investment into fitness benefits for the parent (via social competitiveness) in predicting parental favoritism. Participants were college students who had at least one fully-biological sibling. Participants completed a series of on-line questionnaires that assessed their personal experiences regarding parental favoritism (or non-favoritism) with each biological parent. Additionally, they completed questionnaires that assessed their levels of health, intelligence, ambition, physical attractiveness, and parental resemblance relative to their sibling. As expected, results indicated that paternal resemblance predicted paternal favoritism, whereas maternal resemblance did not predict maternal favoritism. Additionally, in partial support of a hypothesis, fathers were shown to demonstrate favoritism in more specific areas than were mothers. Contrary to predictions, health, offspring intelligence, ambition, and physical attractiveness did not consistently predict parental favoritism. Discussion centers on the implications of the findings, offers possible explanations regarding why certain expected results were not obtained, and makes recommendations for future research.
Author: Anthony Michael Lauricella
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1935496598