1998/08/01 by Leslie R. Brody, Anne P. Copeland, Lisa S. Sutton +2 · 41 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Affect (linguistics) #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Clinical psychology #Context (archaeology) #Developmental psychology #Disengagement theory #Family Support in Illness #Medicine #Psychology #Shame #Sibling #Social psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/1467-6427.00087
published in Journal of Family Therapy 20(3), 269-291 (Wiley)
crossref issued 1998/08/01 · crossref published 1998/08/01 · crossref published-print 1998/08/01 · openalex publication_date 1998/08/01 · crossref published-online 2002/12/16 · crossref created 2003/03/12 · crossref deposited 2023/10/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02 · crossref indexed 2026/08/02
Perceived family favouritism and disfavouritism were explored in relation to college students' adjustment, affect and family process. The participants included 127 males and females and 62 of their siblings (age range 18–32 years). Sixty‐five per cent of the participants reported favouritism in their families; 24% reported disfavouritism. There was modest sibling agreement on the presence of family favouritism/disfavouritism as well as on who in the family was doing the favouring or disfavouring. The presence of disfavouritism was found to relate to lower family cohesion, higher family disengagement and higher family conflict. Participants who perceived themselves to be disfavoured also reported more frequent shame and more intense fear. Participants who perceived themselves to be favoured reported less frequent shame. Results are discussed in the context of the empirical and clinical literature on sibling and family interaction and the differential treatment of siblings by parents. A clinical case example is provided to illustrate the results and to highlight the implications for family therapy.