Suspicious Jealousy Is Related to Anxious Attachment and Is Mediated By Fear of Intimacy

Abstract

Relationships between insecure attachment (anxious and avoidant), fear of intimacy and romantic jealousy (suspicious and reactive) were explored in this study. The Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire, the Fear-of-Intimacy Scale, and the Multidimensional Jealousy Scale were administered to a sample of 210 ethnically diverse adults via Qualtrics Panels. Anxious attachment, fear of intimacy, and suspicious jealousy were positively correlated. Conversely, negative associations were noted between avoidant attachment and reactive jealousy, and between fear of intimacy and reactive jealousy. Mediation analysis revealed that fear of intimacy mediated the effect of anxious attachment on suspicious jealousy and marginally mediated the effect of avoidant attachment on suspicious jealousy. These results are consistent with the transactional model of jealousy and they uniquely specify that fear of intimacy is a significant mediator of the relationship between anxious attachment and suspicious jealousy.