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For many mothers, the question “Who’s your favorite child?” presents an impossible quandary. How is a parent to choose between the most precious people in the world? Most women would sooner admit to feeding their children a steady diet of McGriddles and lead paint before confessing that they felt a stronger affinity for one of their children over his or her siblings. 

But at least a few of these women would be lying. 

In a British survey conducted in 2008, 16 percent of women revealed that they preferred one of their children over the rest. Other surveys have indicated that as many as 30 percent of mothers admit to having a favorite child, and when mothers of grown children are studied, the number jumps to 80 percent. While many women say that they love all their children the same or equally but in different ways, it turns out that some women do have a clear favorite. 

The question of which child becomes the favorite in each family doesn’t seem to follow any particular pattern of birth order or gender, but some studies have provided clues about who the most likely candidates are. Parents naturally respond more positively to a child who shares their own interests or who is most like them. Mothers who are unhappy in their own relationships tend to fixate more on whichever child is the most demonstrative and affectionate, rather than on the children who are more reserved with their feelings, because that affection serves the mothers’ own emotional needs. Also, mothers are more likely to name certain daughters as their favorite children when they have several things in common with their moms. 

Animal-behavior research has suggested that part of these parents’ selection process might be innate. A study on a species of beetle that lives in a two-parent family structure found that parents instinctually and overwhelmingly favored their older offspring. The researchers, from the University of Manchester (UK), theorized that adults favor older children either because the older children’s maturity gives them a better chance of survival or because older children are simply more proficient at soliciting resources and attention from their parents.

Of course, human family relationships are more complicated than those of beetles; some experts point out that the oldest child in a family might not be at an advantage after all, since the experience of first-time parenthood can leave mothers stressed and overwhelmed. In a study at Cornell University, the favorite child in a family was usually the one who had experienced problems as a child, whether psychological or physical, that were beyond his or her control. Parents reacted strongly to children who suffered from diseases or developmental delays, but not to children whose problems seemed surmountable, such as poor self-discipline or illegal behavior.