My Pride and Joy? Predicting Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Mother-Adult Child Relations

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Suitor J. J., Gilligan M., Peng S., Con Wright G., Rurka M., Pillemer K.

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, vol.78, no.4, pp.908-925, 2016 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 78 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1111/jomf.12288
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.908-925
  • Keywords: adult children, older adults, parental favoritism, parent-child relations, PARENTAL DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT, SIBLING RELATIONSHIP QUALITY, INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS, MATERNAL FAVORITISM, DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, MIDDLE ADULTHOOD, AGING PARENTS, LATER-LIFE, FAMILY, PERCEPTIONS
  • TED University Affiliated: No

Abstract

In this article, we compare predictors of mothers' differentiation among their adult children regarding emotional closeness, pride, conflict, and disappointment. We distinguish between predictors of relational (closeness, conflict) and evaluative (pride, disappointment) dimensions of favoritism and disfavoritism. Multilevel modeling using data collected from 381 older mothers regarding their relationships with 1,421 adult children indicated that adult children's similarity of values played the most prominent role in predicting mothers' favoritism and disfavoritism, followed by children's gender. Children's deviant behaviors in adulthood predicted both pride and disappointment but neither relational dimension. Contrary to expectations, the quantitative analysis indicated that children's normative adult achievements were poor predictors of both relational and evaluative dimensions of mothers' differentiation. Qualitative data shed additional light on mothers' evaluations by revealing that disappointment was shaped by children's achievements relative to their mothers' values and expectations, rather than by the achievement of specific societal, educational, career, and marital milestones.