Relationship between Temperamental Qualities of Siblings and Parental Differential Treatment

The concept of temperament directs our attention to important aspects of child individuality that must be considered in parenting. Using a sample of 120 families having two children who were between 10 and 17years of age and their parents, this study assessed the relationship between child temperament and parental differential treatment and was undertaken in purposively selected Hisar city, of Haryana State. Thereby, the total sample was consisted of 240 children (120 older and 120 younger siblings) and 240 parents. Both parents were informants for temperamental qualities. Malhotra's Temperament Schedule (Malhotra and Malhotra, 1988) was used to study child temperamental qualities. Comparative distribution of younger and older siblings on different temperamental qualities depicted that younger siblings were more social, had positive moods as well as more active, and whereas, older siblings were relatively more attentive. Berkeley Parent-child Interview Schedule developed by Ablow and Measelle (1993) was used to study PDT. In the face of social norms for equal treatment, the present study provided evidences that mothers and fathers often treat their offspring differentially. As per siblings' perception regarding PDT in the domains of warmth, over half of mothers and fathers both favoured younger siblings more than the older siblings, whereas, nearly same percentage of both parents were relatively more hostile to the older siblings. Correlation results clearly established that children's temperament statistically predicted maternal differential warmth and hostility treatment of siblings in the family. Implications for intervention programs targeted at decreasing differential treatment are discussed.