COPING WITH THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER - CONCEPTUALIZING AND MEASURING COMMUNICATIVE RESPONSES TO ROMANTIC JEALOUSY

Communicative responses to jealousy perform critical functions in inte rpersonal relationships: They can reduce uncertainty, help maintain or repair relationships, and aid the jealous person in saving face and r estoring self-esteem. The three studies reported herein concentrate on conceptualizing and measuring communicative responses to jealousy tha t are relevant to these functions. Study 1 is a descriptive, qualitati ve analysis of respondents' communicative responses to jealousy. Twelv e superordinate categories and 67 tactics were found. Studies 2 and 3 focus on finding reliable and valid measures representing the various responses found in Study 1. Measures for six types of interactive resp onses (integrative communication, distributive communication, active d istancing, general avoidance/denial, expression of negative affect, an d violent communication/threats) and five types of general responses ( surveillance/restriction, compensatory restoration, manipulation attem pts, rival contact, and violent behavior) were developed. Associations between these jealousy response scales and previous jealousy measures , and results from confirmatory factor analyses, provide preliminary e vidence for the validity of these scales.