Romantická žárlivost u heterosexuálních a homosexuálních jedinců z pohledu evoluční psychologie

Jealousy is defined as one of the most common automatic responses to endangering a relationship by a third party, and in evolutionary psychology it has the function of maximizing self-reproduction fitness, ensuring paternity security in men, and maintaining partner's resources in women. These include romantic jealousy, in men assuring certainty of paternity, and in women assuring the maintenance of partner's resources. Thus, according to this logic, a woman’s sexual infidelity should be more threatening for men and a man’s emotional infidelity (emotional involvement with other women than a primary partner) should be more threatening for women. Many previous studies confirm the existence of sex differences in jealousy; men reporting a higher level of sexual jealousy and women reporting a higher level of emotional jealousy. On the contrary, studies of romantic jealousy in homosexual individuals show inconsistent results. Some studies suggest that the type of sexual and emotional jealousy does not depend on the sex of the individual who is jealous, but rather on the sex of the partner or the sex of the rival. Therefore, the aim of this review is to introduce romantic jealousy from an evolutionary perspective and to acquaint the reader with current knowledge of the study of cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects of romantic jealousy in heterosexual and homosexual men and women.

Are You 2 Just Friends? Emotional and Sexual Infidelity Across Sexual Orientations

This study examined how participants’ perceived the emotional and sexual infidelity of their partner’s relationship with a friend differing across sexuality and biological sex. Our participants consisted of a combined sample across two studies (n = 532), participants completed measures of their perceived emotional and sexual infidelity towards 10 controlled behaviors that their partners committed with the partner’s friends. The data revealed that participants were more concerned with perceived emotional infidelity with sex(es)-of-attraction friends as a function of participants’ sexual orientation, sex, and their lover’s sexual orientation. Our evidence shows that when in relationships, people feel most threatened by the friend of the partner who possesses the same biological machinery as them. Furthermore, results suggest that people are also more likely to be threatened by their partner’s friend, who may have a mutual attraction towards their partner. The effect of the same biological machinery and the mutual attraction on perceived infidelity is additive. The pattern is seen across heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual relationships.

American and Korean Perceptions of Sex Differences in Deception

Beliefs about which sex lies more or is better at lying can have subtle but widespread effects on human interactions, yet little is known about such beliefs. In Study 1, an American sample of participants ( N = 407, ages 18–64) completed a 12-item survey on perceptions of sex differences in deception. In Study 2, a Korean sample ( N = 197, ages 19–58) completed the same survey. Men from both cultures and Korean women perceived no difference regarding which sex tells more white (i.e., relatively harmless or low-stakes) lies. American women perceived that women tell more white lies. Women from both cultures and American men perceived that men tell a greater number of serious (i.e., nonwhite or high-stakes) lies. Korean men perceived no difference regarding which sex tells a greater number of serious lies. Both sexes from both countries reported a perception that (1) men are more likely to lie about height, income, and sexual infidelity, (2) women are more likely to lie about weight and age, and (3) women are better at lying. The findings were mixed regarding perceptions about emotional infidelity. Results are interpreted in light of sex-different challenges to mating and parenting.

Breakup Likelihood Following Hypothetical Sexual or Emotional Infidelity: Perceived Threat, Blame, and Forgiveness

Infidelity represents a major threat to relationships, often resulting in dissolution of couples. The process from infidelity to potential breakup was studied in 92 couples using questionnaires concerning hypothetical scenarios of sexual and emotional infidelity. Structural equation model analyses using couple data for both infidelity types suggest that the level of perceived threat to the relationship was the main predictor of likelihood of breakup for men and women. Following each type of imagined infidelity, this effect was partly mediated by forgiveness. For emotional infidelity, level of blame was associated with forgiveness and breakup. The effect of blame on breakup was fully mediated by keeping less distance. The mechanisms involved in these processes were highly similar for women and men.

Perceptions of infidelity: A comparison of sexual, emotional, cyber-, and parasocial behaviors

Previous research indicates that extradyadic sexual behaviors and other behaviors including emotional infidelity, pornography use, and online infidelity are considered to be acts of betrayal. However, perceptions of infidelity occurring through social media and of romantic parasocial relationships (one-sided romantic attachments formed with media figures) have not been well researched. In two exploratory studies, I examined a) the extent to which participants rated parasocial, sexual, emotional, and social media behaviors as infidelity, and b) how hurtful these behaviors would be if a partner were to enact them. I also examined how often participants reported having been negatively affected by their partner’s parasocial romances. Results indicate that activities such as sexting and sexy Snapchatting are perceived similarly to both cybersex and physical sexual infidelity, and that parasocial infidelity is seen similarly to pornography use. These similarities apply to whether the acts are seen as infidelity, and in terms of the emotional pain the acts may cause. These results indicate that extradyadic social media and parasocial behaviors can be negatively perceived, and may be likely to negatively affect real-life romantic relationships.

What feeds the green-eyed monster: sociodemographic and sociosexual determinants of jealousy

Although studies consistently show gender differences in emotional vs. sexual jealousy, a substantial part of variance in jealousy is left unexplained. Here, we present two studies with aim to explore other correlates of jealousy, aside from gender. In the first online study (n = 2970), we found that participants who reported being more upset by the emotional infidelity scenario were older and more educated and had a higher income than those who reported being more upset by the sexual infidelity scenario. Those who expressed greater sexual jealousy gave higher ratings of importance of potential partner's mate value. Heterosexual women were more likely to report emotional jealousy than non-heterosexual women. Among men, sexual orientation did not predict type of jealousy. As the role of reproductive status was largely neglected in previous research, in the second study, we used a continuous measure to explore jealousy as a function of age (reproductive vs. post-reproductive; n = 199). We found that the older participants were less jealous overall, and that the previously reported gender differences disappeared in the post-reproductive group. These results provide further support for the notion that jealousy is a context-specific, adaptive response, which diminishes in both intensity and specificity as the threat that it was designed for wanes.

Infidelity and Attachment Styles

Literature points to differing responses among women and men regarding sexual and emotional infidelity. Inview of limited research regarding gender responses to infidelity within the context of attachment styles, theresearch study investigated whether there were significant difference in the way women and men responded tosexual and emotional infidelity. It also sought to determine whether attachment styles affected genderdifferences.. The sample population consisted of 300staff employed at a university in South Africa, of which 81were male and 219 were female. The voluntary online monkey survey required respondents to provideinformation focusing on demographics, attachment styles and sexual orientation. Following this, sexual andemotional cases were presented for participants to rate each case. Participants then made a binary choice, ofwhich scenario upset them most.The findings showed that men found sexual infidelity most upsetting, whileemotional infidelity was found most upsetting for women. Further, results indicated that men found sexualinfidelity most upsetting within the fearful and secure attachment style, with scores much higher than women inthe categories of fearful and secure attachment style. On the other hand, women found emotional infidelity mostupsetting within the fearful and secure attachment style, with scores much higher than men in the categories offearful and secure attachment style. However, both men and women found sexual infidelity to be most upsettingwith the preoccupied and dismissive attachment style. The research findings showed that there were differencesin the responses of the male and female gender tosexual and emotional infidelity. This supports the theory ofevolutionary sex differences and provides an opportunity to augment further intense and rigorous debate onevolutionary approaches.In view of these findings, the study proposed greater empirical and theoretical studiesin the area of sexual and emotional infidelity within cultural contexts.