At the root of favouritism is the fact we all have preferences – for certain colours, tastes, faces, places and much more. These preferences are partly driven by our evolutionary past.
For instance, there’s evidence we favour brighter hues associated with positive things like sky and water, while disliking darker hues that have connotations of dirt or disease.
We also generally prefer geographic settings that provide a good balance of shelter, resources and outlook (presumably because our ancestors were more likely to survive in such places). And we tend to perceive symmetrical faces as more beautiful, perhaps because they’re a sign of healthy genes.
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Layered on top of these basic preferences are cultural influences and personal experiences. Many of us grow up being asked to name our favourite colour, country, film star and so on.
To arrive at these favourites, we’ll draw on our basic evolutionary-driven preferences, but also what’s personally meaningful to us, from the colours of a football team to a cherished holiday experience.
We learn these answers and have them to hand whenever a conversation turns to favourites.
Into this mix, you can also factor in a role for laziness (or efficiency). There’s so much choice in the world, so much complicated decision-making, that it’s too tiring and impractical to keep a live, accurate update of our preferences.
As a shortcut, or heuristic, your brain uses favourites – it makes it much easier to choose where to book dinner, go on holiday or which podcast to listen to, if you default to your favourites.
This is convenient, but not so great for open-mindedness or adventure.
And where it can become especially problematic is in relationship contexts – when parents have a favourite child or a manager has a favourite employee, this can be the source of unfairness and division.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Heath Bowen, via email) 'Why do we pick favourites?'
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