Evolutionary and Social Cognitive Models of Jealousy: A Population-Representative Study

Abstract

Jealousy is a cause of relationship difficulties and failure. Evolutionary models propose that men are more jealous about sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity, and women are more jealous in response to emotional infidelity. In contrast, social cognitive models propose that jealousy is influenced by social and cultural factors. The 3 aims of the study reported here were use a hypothetical jealousy-evoking scenario to explore: (1) sex differences in responses in a large population representative sample; (2) how heterosexual adults’ responses varied according to demographic variables, sexual history, and attitudes toward infidelity; (3) how sexual identity influenced responses. Population-representative sample of 20,093 Australian residents aged 16–69. Data were weighted to match the population described in the national census. Telephone interviews covered various aspects of sexual behavior, sexual attitudes, and sexual health. Within this, interviewees responded to a validated hypothetical jealousy-evoking scenario. There was some support for the evolutionary model among heterosexual respondents: women were more likely to than men to report that emotional infidelity would be more distressing or upsetting than sexual infidelity. However, among some age groups results opposite to those proposed by the evolutionary model were found. In relation to the second aim, a range of demographic, experiential, and attitudinal variables other than sex were also significantly related to heterosexual adults’ responses to the hypothetical scenario. In relation to the third aim, the analyses revealed sex differences opposite to those predicted by evolutionary models.