Relations between different types of jealousy and self and partner perceptions of relationship quality

Abstract

AbstractThe present paper examines the relationships between relationship quality and three different types of jealousy, including both partners' levels of jealousy and perceptions of relationship quality. It was expected that jealousy in response to a direct threat to the relationship—that is, reactive jealousy—would be positively related to relationship quality, whereas forms of jealousy that may also be triggered in the absence of such a threat would be negatively related to relationship quality. Three studies were conducted among large community samples of heterosexual married and cohabiting couples (a total of 961 couples), using three different operationalizations of relationship quality. In all three studies both partners' levels of reactive jealousy related positively to relationship quality, whereas in all three studies, both partners' levels of anxious jealousy were negatively related to relationship quality. Findings and clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.