Fa.vor.it.ism the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.


Favoritism is a lesser acknowledged form of prejudice. The only difference it harbors from other prejudices is that it is not always a preconceived notion. Nepotism, favoritism granted to relatives and friends with no regard to merit, is the form of favoritism that has been based on preconceived notions. Other forms such as favoritism in education or the workplace cannot actually be based wholly on biased beliefs. It is my opinion that favoritism is obviously wrong. Though it is within human nature to favor certain things over others and treat things differently, toying with another human being’s life and emotions is unethical and unjust. For someone to put a particular person or group of people ahead of others because they like them more is wrong. It does not matter what your reasons are, no matter how valid, it is only a matter of your perceived opinion. Opinion does not double as fact. What I have found to be the favoritism seedling is when parents favor one child over the rest. If a person is going to put only one child on a pedestal, they should only have one child and try their damnedest to prevent the arrival of more. The favoring of the one over the many can cause severe psychological hindrances in all the children. The preferred child may reach a point where they believe themselves to be elite, and this can bring about an arrogance that will perpetuate alienation in all aspects of their lives. In turn, the child that receives less attention may reach the limit of their patience and participate in self-destructive or potentially harmful acts. Either way nothing good will come of it. Another environment where partiality has damaging effects is in the classroom. Favoritism in education is the making of an unfair system. It is a conflict of interest to give a grade or merit to a student based on a person’s personal biases. This not only prevents other students from learning in a class, but it also depletes their desire to learn. To be constantly looked over because another student is in a teacher’s good graces is mentally exhausting. This I know from first hand experience. Throughout my entire grade school career, I have been a middle student. I was never very mischievous, nor was I the know-it-all, brainiac over-achiever. This caused me to be constantly overlooked even though I knew, absolutely, that I could succeed. For a teacher to interrupt or move from one child to another because their favorite finally has an answer to a problem, a question to ask, or what have you, is to tell the other student that their scholastic contribution is unimportant. Thus causing an academic rift. The ignored student become sulky and separates themselves from the teachers and the class or they act out and, unfortunately, are alienated by their fellow peers. I personally take everything a teacher says with a grain of salt and try to remain humble no matter how impressed my educator is. I do this because the student that gets the love from the teacher also feels the most pressure. Every praised step is the precursor to a misstep. A constant feeling of nervousness overshadows any pride a student can feel because a truly smart and knowledgeable student knows that all future assignments are expected to be exquisitely executed. This can also damage a persons mind immensely. This prejudice can lead people down a dark and dangerous road. Moving on, this raging prejudice rears it harmful horns in the workplace too. Hardworking employees deserve their promotions and recognition. Never should a person ever hand out awards to people who do nothing to deserve it. As with favoritism in the home and school, favoritism in the workplace impedes progress within a workforce. The result is decreased morale, which can result in reduced productivity, as employees throw up their hands and take on a ‘why bother’ attitude. Why should they continue to try hard and do everything in a correct and timely manner if it is never appreciated? This is the question they will ask. Employees that are favored will slack off and hand off their duties to others because they see no harm in it. The blame will be placed on someone else. A company lacking vital players can fail and go out of business. Favoritism at any stage of life is counterproductive. The act of playing favorites is damaging to all that play a part. The one showing favoritism is hated for blatant disregard for equality, the receiver of the favoritism reaches one of two extremes, arrogance or fear of failure, and the person or people who receive no attention at all feel left out and unwanted. Favoritism is oppressing and mentally or physically demanding.


Btw: I have a small theory. Some people show favoritism because they see something in a person that they either have wanted to be or want to be now, so they attach themselves to the person to protect and harness whatever it is they like so much.