Gender Differences In Romantic Jealousy

Many studies have explored gender differences in romantic jealousy however less is known about the differences between male and female individual’s responses to romantic jealousy. Jealousy is defined as an emotional “state that is aroused by a perceived threat to a valued relationship or position and motivates behaviour aimed at countering the threat” (Buss, Larsen, Westen & Semmelroth, 1992). Many theorists have claimed that women are innately more upset by a mate’s emotional infidelity whereas males are more upset by a mate’s sexual infidelity due to the fact that each sex faced different adaptive problems (Sabini & Green, 2004). This review will focus on gender differences in romantic jealousy and explore responses to emotional and sexual

Sheets and Wolfe (2001) examined distress reports of heterosexual and homosexual participants whilst they thought about a partner’s sexual and emotional infidelity. The study did not validate the social support theory however results indicated that all groups except heterosexual men experienced higher levels of distress when imagining a partner’s emotional infidelity. Similarly, Bailey et al. (1994) found that homosexual men were more often upset by an emotional infidelity event than sexual infidelity. Bailey et al. (1994) claimed that homosexuals may exaggerate heterosexual male’s mating Psychology and therefore be less upset if their partner was unfaithful. Whilst this contradicts (Buss et al. 1992) and the evolutionary theory that romantic jealousy is linked specifically to sex, the study does underline the emotional effects sexual infidelity has on heterosexual males. These studies could provide evidence towards to notion that the currently suggested gender differences are not applicable to homosexuals. On the other hand, Bailey, Gaulin, Agyei and Gladue, (1994) Compared and scrutinised the way in which males and female in same sex and opposite sex partners express and experience romantic jealousy by comparing levels of jealousy in relation to sexual orientation. Results found that levels of jealousy experience did not differ

Dijkstra and Bunk’s (2001) study found that jealousy in men was evoked by a rival’s status or finances, whereas women would be more jealous of a rivals physical characteristics. Results for male participants were the same. Interestingly, another study by Bassett, Pearcey and Dabbs Jr (2001) observed the variances in jealousy and partner preference between lesbians who identified themselves as butch or femme. It was hypothesized that they would behave analogously to heterosexuals with femme lesbians adopting female jealousy attributes and butches adopting male jealousy methods. On the other hand, gay men were reported to have more jealousy than heterosexual men when the rival was high in social dominance and more jealousy compared to lesbian women when a rival was high in physical dominance. Results indicated that butches and femme lesbians did not differ in sexual versus emotional jealousy. Broemer and Diehl (2004) established that people experience higher levels of jealousy when compared with an attractive rival with similarities to themselves as it challenges distinctiveness. Sadalla, Kenrick and Vershure (1987) study claimed that women are more sexually attracted to dominant men therefore it could be assumed that males would be more jealous of a dominant rival than a submissive