RESEARCH_FILE
J. Jill Suitor
Purdue University
Known for:The Within-Family Differences Study — a long-running research program on parental favoritism and its effects across adult siblings' lives
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Her parents like his brother's wife more”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Their favoritism is their pattern. It has never been a measurement of who I am.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Name one specific moment when you felt the comparison land (a comment, a gesture, a decision), write it down in one sentence without interpretation, and notice whether you can hold that fact without it being a verdict about you.
Key findings
- 2013
With Gilligan, Kim, and Pillemer, studying 341 adult children in 137 later-life families, Suitor found a father's — but not a mother's — current favoritism predicted tension between adult siblings, especially among daughters. Differential Effects of Perceptions of Mothers' and Fathers' Favoritism on Sibling Tension in Adulthood ↗
- 2013
Tracking mothers' favoritism over time, Suitor and colleagues found it to be remarkably stable across years — a mother's 'favorite' rarely changes — meaning perceived favoritism is a durable feature of the family system, not a passing phase. Continuity and Change in Mothers' Favoritism Toward Offspring in Adulthood ↗
- 2016
Modeling data on 381 older mothers and their 1,421 adult children, Suitor and colleagues found that how similar a child's values are to the mother's — more than the child's achievements — was the strongest predictor of maternal favoritism and disfavoritism. My Pride and Joy? Predicting Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Mother–Adult Child Relations ↗