Dc. Geary et al., SEXUAL JEALOUSY AS A FACULTATIVE TRAIT - EVIDENCE FROM THE PATTERN OFSEX-DIFFERENCES IN ADULTS FROM CHINA AND THE UNITED-STATES, Ethology and sociobiology, 16(5), 1995, pp. 355-383
Across two studies, 716 and 308 undergraduate students from the United
States and mainland China, respectively, were administered a series o
f measures on jealousy, emotional responses to partner infidelity, fam
ily background, and personality, Across both studies for the U.S. and
Chinese samples, a higher proportion of males than females reported mo
re distress to a partner's imagined sexual infidelity than to emotiona
l infidelity, whereas a higher proportion of females than males report
ed more distress to a partner's emotional infidelity than to sexual in
fidelity, consistent with theoretical expectations and previous empiri
cal research. However, a much higher proportion of U.S. males and fema
les reported more distress to sexual infidelity than their same-sex Ch
inese peers, suggesting that the tendency toward sexual jealousy might
be facultatively influenced by sexual permissiveness in the general c
ulture. The overall pattern of results is considered in terms of indiv
idual and contextual differences in the expression of jealousy, as wel
l as in terms of the emotional and behavioral responses associated wit
h jealousy reactions.