SEX-DIFFERENCES IN JEALOUSY IN EVOLUTIONARY AND CULTURAL-PERSPECTIVE - TESTS FROM THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, AND THE UNITED-STATES

As predicted by models derived from evolutionary psychology, men withi n the United States have been shown to exhibit greater psychological a nd physiological distress to sexual than to emotional infidelity of th eir partner, and women have been shown to exhibit more distress to emo tional than to sexual infidelity. Because cross-cultural tests are cri tical for evolutionary hypotheses, we examined these sex differences i n three parallel studies conducted in the Netherlands (N = 207), Germa ny (N = 200), and the United States (N = 224). Two key findings emerge d. First, the sex differences in sexual jealousy are robust across the se cultures, providing support for the evolutionary psychological mode l. Second, the magnitude of the sex differences varies somewhat across cultures-large for the United States, medium for Germany and the Neth erlands. Discussion focuses on the evolutionary psychology of jealousy and on the sensitivity of sex differences in the sexual sphere to cul tural input.