Levels Of Jealousy Research Articles

Level of jealousy and marital adjustment amongst rural and urban working and non working couples

Jealousy, the shadow of love and green eyed-monster that on the one hand has ruined marital homeostasis of millions of couples by creating fraction amongst the families and on the other also seems equally beneficial for promoting their La Dolce Vita philosophy of happiness across the world. It seems that foremost source of this covetous issue might be the insecurity and fear of being abandoned by one of the cherished partner due to extra marital relationship. The reason behind such apprehension might be the excessive flow of money, poverty that push away the people to leave sedentary mode of life and to adopt nomadic way, mismatch of thoughts, emotions and behavior, values of life, over involvement, much or less care, violation of customary practices, eating and sleeping habits, pro-social attitude, less mindfulness and more money mindedness; selfishness, performing job and business outside the native place. Such issues may results jealous by hampering their marital relationship in general and personal development in particular. Once a time when there use to be a faith and sacred relationship in marriage in India, that in contemporary Kaliyug scenario has diluted and faded away by converting into suspiciousness and jealousy. The level of jealous may differ among the working and non-working people in general and the rural and urban men and women in both developed and developing countries in particular as well as in hilly areas like Himachal Pradesh where the people are very honest now has followed the path of astuteness that in turn has disturbed their marital homeostasis. In the present study a pioneer attempt has been made to explore the relationship between jealousy and marital adjustment among 200 Working and Non-Working Couples of Rural and Urban areas of Himachal Pradesh. Based on locality and gender, 8 groups namely Urban Working Men, Urban Non-Working Men; Urban Working Women; Urban Non-Working Women; Rural Working Men, Rural Non-Working Men; Rural Working Women; and Rural Non-Working Women with n = 25 subjects in each have been formed. These subjects were assessed with the help of Multidimensional Jealousy Scale as developed by Susan M. Peiffer and Paul T.P. Wong in 1989’s with seven point scale where the score ranged from minimum of 8 to maximum of 56 with the reliability of r = .83 to r =.92 respectively. The marital adjustment was measured with the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale as developed by Busby, Christensen, and Larson in 1995 that has 14 items with five and six point scale with a minimum score of 0 and maximum of 69 and reliability of r = 0.90 respectively. The result revealed that Men reported well adjusted marital life but were more in Jealousy as compared to their Women counterparts. The Non-Working Men enjoyed satisfied life thereof were well adjusted despite being reporting more Jealous as compared to Non-working Women counterpart. In the same tune, the Urban people reported better adjusted marital life but more jealousy than to the people of Rural area. For promoting better marital life there is need to reduce jealousy, promoting faith, self-esteem, mindfulness, self-esteem, confidence and vision by following honesty and yogic way of life amongst the men who seems to suffer from aforesaid issues.

Attachment's Links With Adolescents' Social Emotions: The Roles of Negative Emotionality and Emotion Regulation

ABSTRACTRecent research has attempted to explain the mechanisms through which parental attachment affects social and emotional outcomes (e.g., Burnette, Taylor, Worthington, & Forsyth, 2007; Panfile & Laible, 2012). The authors’ goal was to examine negative emotionality and emotion regulation as mediators of the associations that attachment has with empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. One hundred forty-eight adolescents reported their parental attachment security, general levels of negative emotionality and abilities to regulate emotional responses, and tendencies to feel empathy, forgiveness, guilt, and jealousy. Results revealed that attachment security was associated with higher levels of empathy, forgiveness, and guilt, but lower levels of jealousy. In addition, emotion regulation mediated the links attachment shared with both empathy and guilt, such that higher levels of attachment security were linked with greater levels of emotion regulation, which led to greater levels of empathy and guilt. Alternatively, negative emotionality mediated the links attachment shared with both forgiveness and jealousy, such that higher levels of attachment security were associated with lower levels of negative emotionality, which in turn was linked to lower levels of forgiveness and higher levels of jealousy. This study provides a general picture of how attachment security may play a role in shaping an individual's levels of social emotions.

Children's Observed Interactions With Best Friends: Associations With Friendship Jealousy and Satisfaction

AbstractThis study examined the role of friendship jealousy and satisfaction in nine‐year‐old children's observed interactions with their best friends. One hundred five dyads (51 female, 54 male) participated in a 30‐min closed‐field observational setting and reported their jealousy and satisfaction within the friendship. The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model was used to estimate the effects of friendship jealousy and satisfaction on children's own and their friends' behavior. Friends were highly similar in observed behavior and friendship characteristics. Many observed dyadic behaviors were associated with overall levels of jealousy within the friendship, but differences in friendship satisfaction were only predictive of conflict resolution in boys. Children's reports of their friendship jealousy were strongly related to their own behavior in the dyad and the behavior of their best friends. Gender differences were discussed. The results further illustrate the importance of a dyadic perspective on friendship interaction.

Romantic Jealousy From the Perspectives of Bowen’s Concept of Differentiation and Gender Differences

This study explores whether differentiation of the self, a concept suggested by Bowen, can explain and predict the tendency for romantic jealousy. It also looks into gender differences in the expressions and reactions to romantic jealousy. Data were gathered from married couples (242 participants), utilizing self-report questionnaires that measure emotional, cognitive, and behavioral expressions of jealousy, evaluate the respondent’s level of differentiation, and collect background data. The findings show that participants with lower levels of differentiation reported higher levels of jealousy. Women reported higher levels of emotional arousal, had a stronger cognitive tendency to interpret a variety of situations as arousing jealousy, and were inclined to invest more in attempting to preserve the couple relationship. Implications of these findings for future research and practice of clinical couple therapy are discussed.

Hormonal contraceptive congruency: Implications for relationship jealousy

Research shows that women who use hormonal contraceptives (HCs) differ in their mate preferences from women who have regular cycles. It has been proposed that when a partnered woman either begins to use or ceases to use HCs, she may experience changes in her relationship since her preferences become incongruent with those prevalent at the time of her partner choice. This has not yet been directly tested. Here, in doing this, we aim to specifically test whether current and past HC use contributes to present levels of relationship jealousy. We find a significant interaction in levels of jealousy based on current HC use and HC use at the start of the relationship. When current HC use is incongruent with that at the start of the relationship, women report significantly higher levels of jealousy. Results are among the first to suggest that both current and past HC use may influence relationship dynamics.

Reported jealousy differs as a function of menstrual cycle stage and contraceptive pill use: a within-subjects investigation

Previous research suggests that female jealousy is sensitive to hormonal variation and, more specifically, potentially moderated by estrogen levels. Here, we tracked self-reported jealousy using a within-subjects design, comparing jealousy when the same women were regularly cycling and using hormonal contraceptives. Results show that fertile cycle phases are associated with higher levels of jealousy than nonfertile cycle phases in both single and partnered women. However, patterns of jealousy reported when using hormonal contraceptives, as compared to when regularly cycling, differed between single and partnered women. In single women, levels of jealousy while on the pill fell between those reported when fertile and nonfertile but were not significantly different from either. In partnered women, levels of jealousy while using the pill were significantly higher than those reported during the nonfertile cycle phase and similar to those during the brief period of fertility. We discuss possible reasons for differences between single and partnered women in reported jealousy while using the pill. This research is the first to definitively show that a psychological characteristic, for example, jealousy, may be influenced differentially by endogenous hormones vs. exogenous hormones administered via hormonal contraceptives.

Adolescents' Gender Mistrust: Variations and Implications for the Quality of Romantic Relationships

Recent research demonstrates that perceptions of gender mistrust are implicated in lower marriage rates among low-income populations. Yet few quantitative studies have examined the factors predicting gender mistrust during adolescence and whether it influences the quality of subsequent nonmarital romantic relationships. Analysis of three waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 1,106) indicates that in addition to neighborhood poverty rates, parents' own gender mistrust and parent-child relationship quality are related to adolescents' gender mistrust, suggesting that parents play an important role in influencing adolescents' developing feelings of gender mistrust. Perceptions of gender mistrust are not related to whether adolescents are involved in dating relationships, but are linked to higher levels of jealousy and verbal conflict in adolescents' subsequent romantic relationships, albeit only for male adolescents.

Hormonal birth control use and relationship jealousy: Evidence for estrogen dosage effects

Women who use hormonal contraceptives have been shown to report higher levels of jealousy than women who are regularly cycling. Here, we extend these findings by examining if self reported levels of jealousy vary with the dose of synthetic estrogen and progestin found in combined oral contraceptives in a sample of 275 women. A univariate ANOVA analysis revealed that higher levels of ethinyl estradiol were associated with significantly higher levels of self-reported jealousy. There was, however, no relationship between combined oral contraceptive progestin dose and reported jealousy levels. When controlling for age, relationship status, mood, and combined oral contraceptive progestin dose the results for ethinyl estradiol were maintained. A test for the interaction between the jealousy sub-scale items (reactive, possessive, and anxious jealousy) was however non-significant: ethinyl estradiol dose thus does not affect one type of jealousy more than another but rather affects overall jealousy. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of their evolutionary consequences on mate choice and relationship dynamics.

Self and partner personality and responses to relationship threats

Two studies examined the relations between three different types of jealousy and personality characteristics of self and partner in two large heterogeneous community samples of heterosexual couples (459 and 230 couples, respectively). It was expected that partners would resemble each other to some extent in both the experience of different types of jealousy and personality characteristics, and that self-reported levels of neuroticism (+) and extraversion (−) would be related to higher levels of jealousy. Moreover, it was expected that partner extraversion would be related positively to levels of jealousy, and that similarity with regard to personality characteristics would be related to lower levels of jealousy. Results largely supported our expectations with regard to both partner similarity and self-reported personality characteristics. However, our expectations with regard to partner extraversion and similarity were not supported.

Height predicts jealousy differently for men and women

Because male height is associated with attractiveness, dominance, and reproductive success, taller men may be less jealous. And because female height has a curvilinear relationship with health and reproductive success (with average-height females having the advantages), female height may have a curvilinear relationship with jealousy. In Study 1, male height was found to be negatively correlated with self-reported global jealousy, whereas female height was curvilinearly related to jealousy, with average-height women reporting the lowest levels of jealousy. In Study 2, male height was found to be negatively correlated with jealousy in response to socially influential, physically dominant, and physically attractive rivals. Female height was negatively correlated with jealousy in response to physically attractive, physically dominant, and high-social-status rivals; in addition, quadratic effects revealed that approximately average-height women tend to be less jealous of physically attractive rivals but more jealous of rivals with “masculine” characteristics of physical dominance and social status.

Sex-specific relationship between digit ratio (2D:4D) and romantic jealousy

The ratio of index finger length to ring finger length (2D:4D) is an index of prenatal androgen exposure. In a study with 71 female and 52 male undergraduate students, we assessed the relationship between 2D:4D and jealousy with respect to various dimensions of rival characteristics. Following the presentation of a jealousy-evoking scenario, participants rated the extent to which they would feel jealous if the rival possessed various characteristics (some which have been found to be more jealousy evoking for men, others which have been found to be more jealousy evoking for women). Men with higher, more feminine 2D:4D reacted more jealously toward more socially dominant rivals. Women with lower, more masculine 2D:4D reacted more jealously toward more physically attractive rivals. These results show that the level of prenatal testosterone affects which rival characteristics elicit the highest level of jealousy, which are different for men and women.

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

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.

A narrow waist versus broad shoulders: Sex and age differences in the jealousy-evoking characteristics of a rival’s body build

This study examined the role of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR) of the rival in evoking jealousy in an adult sample of 70 men and 69 women. Women paid more attention to the rivals’ waist, hips, and hair, and men paid more attention to the rivals’ shoulders. Potential rivals with a low as opposed to a high waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) evoked more jealousy in women than in men, particularly among women with a low WHR. Among women, the low WHR-high SHR rival the V-type body build evoked the highest level of jealousy and was perceived as most attractive and the most socially and physically dominant. In contrast, among men the low WHR-low SHR rival, that is, a rival with a linear and slender body build, evoked the highest level of jealousy and was perceived as the most attractive and socially dominant, but not as the most physically dominant. As men were older, the SHR of the rival was a less important factor in evoking jealousy, whereas among women jealousy in response to the rival’s WHR was not affected by age.

The “other factors”: using individual and relationship characteristics to predict sexual and emotional jealousy

The current study examined the effects of individual and situational variables on sexual versus emotional jealousy. One hundred and forty-two college students in romantic relationships rated how jealous they would be if they witnessed their partner in a situation evoking sexual or emotional jealousy with either a good friend or a stranger. They also completed measures of love, sociosexual orientation, egalitarian attitudes, and general levels of jealousy in their relationship. Both men and women reported that they would be more upset in response to the sexual scenario than the emotional scenario and when the rival was a stranger rather than a good friend. General emotional jealousy also contributed to the prediction of anticipated jealousy. Results are discussed in terms of evolutionary and cultural views of jealousy.

Personality, birth order and attachment styles as related to various types of jealousy

The relationships between jealousy, personality, attachment styles and birth order were examined in a sample of 100 Dutch men and 100 Dutch women. Three types of jealousy were examined: reactive jealousy (a negative response to the emotional or sexual involvement of the partner with someone else), preventive jealousy (efforts to prevent intimate contact of the partner with a third person), and anxious jealousy (obsessive anxiety, upset, and worrying about the possibility of infidelity of the partner). The three types of jealousy were not at all related to egoism and dominance, but significantly correlated with neuroticism, social anxiety, rigidity and hostility. Only among women was a low self-esteem correlated with jealousy. On all three jealousy measures, those with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style were more jealous than those with an avoidant style, with those with a secure attachment style being the least jealous. Attachment style was strongly related to most personality dimensions, but the effects of attachment style upon jealousy stayed virtually the same when controlling for personality factors. The most important finding in the present study was that laterborns were more jealous according to all three measures than firstborns, a finding that was not due to personality differences between first- and laterborns, nor to differences in attachment style, gender or occupational level of the father. Because some evidence was found that only borns were slightly less jealous than firstborns, it is suggested that the experience of exclusive love and attention in one's childhood, leads to a lower level of jealousy among firstborns.

Jealousy and Romantic Attachment in Maritally Violent and Nonviolent Men

This study investigated whether maritally violent males are more jealous than maritally nonviolent males. The subjects were 180 cohabiting men divided into four groups selected on dimensions of marital violence, marital satisfaction, and amount of counseling. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) revealed significantly elevated jealousy levels in the two abusive groups and also in the unsatisfactorily married, nonviolent group. Indeed, jealousy correlated negatively with marital satisfaction level. Although jealousy seems not to be the primary precipitant of battering, it may interact with other variables, such as emotional dependence, to increase the likelihood of marital abuse.

Cross-Cultural Aspects of Jealousy

Jealousy is a complex emotion but evokes very strong feelings in the ‘sufferer' and the observer. The clinician may come across morbid jealousy more often but the general levels of jealousy and the social ways of dealing with such emotions are important in the presentation and perpetuation of jealousy. Self-esteem in private and self-esteem in public are important in presentation of jealousy. Few studies have been carried out in cross-cultural settings. These suggest that the feelings of jealousy are linked with issues related to property ownership, progeny, pair-bonding and sexual activity. The culture of society is a much more potent variable. This paper reviews various studies which have addressed cross-cultural comparisons and the influence of nuclear family set up vis-a-vis polyandrous and polygynous societies is discussed. A cognitive model of jealousy is described.