Behavioral Jealousy

Behavioral jealousy are actions that occur between an individual who is experiencing envious thoughts and how they internalize and react to the stimuli. Pfeiffer and Wong (1989) “conceptualize jealous behaviors as the detective/protective measures a person takes when relationship rivals (real or imaginary) are perceived. Detective actions include questioning, checking up on the partner, and searching the partner’s belongings” (p.183). Research suggests that behavioral jealousy is used to maintain relationships. Relationship maintenance refers to either positive or negative behaviors that occur between two individuals in order to maintain a healthy communicative balance.

Dainton and Gross (2008) specifically discuss the repercussions that negative behaviors such as jealousy induction may have on relationship maintenance. For instance utilizing negative maintenance behaviors such as jealousy to react to a relationship is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. This research is tied in with the idea of social support and how individual respond to their partners. Researchers agree that jealousy in relationships can have a negative impact, yet also enhance romantic feelings and satisfaction based on how jealousy is initially communicated (Dainton & Gross, 2008; Yoshimura, 2004). “An essential idea behind this study is that the ways in which jealous individuals communicate their jealousy influence how the target communicatively responds. The results showed that targets of jealousy expressions most strongly respond in the style of the initial expression” (Yoshimura, 2004, p. 95). The way jealousy is expressed initially based on attitude and mood can affect the response of the partner and at shaping and guiding the relat...

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...e a parallel correlation from offline jealousy behaviors. Groothof, Dijkstra, and Barelds (2009) suggest that “as for offline acts of infidelity, men compared to women are more upset by a mates sexual infidelity over the Internet, whereas women, more than men, are more upset by a mate’s emotional infidelity over the Internet” (p.1126). Research also suggests that besides socio-cultural and evolutionary jealousy based on gender differentiation; further research should focus on individual’s cognitive social perspective pertaining to jealousy emotion. Harris (2002) suggest that “individuals clearly vary in their susceptibility to feelings of jealousy…the degree of jealousy will be determined by the appraisals people make regarding the seriousness of a threat” (p.11). With that said, further research on sexual jealousy triggers should be further investigated.