SEXUAL JEALOUSY IN YOUNG-WOMEN AND MEN - AGGRESSIVE RESPONSIVENESS TOPARTNER AND RIVAL

Two studies compared judgments about aggressive components of jealous reactions to the partner and to the rival, specifically, emotional (an ger), cognitive (blame), and behavioral components. The first study ra ndomly assigned 172 young women and men to two questionnaires on jealo us reactions to mild (flirting) and serious (cheating) transgressions. One questionnaire assessed standards for appropriate behavior and per ceptions of how people usually react. The second questionnaire asked p eople to report how they had reacted or, if not experienced with a sex ual transgression, how they would react. The second study asked 113 pe ople to imagine a situation in which they knew their partner had been sexually unfaithful. There were three major findings that were interpr eted in the context of courtship, a time when attention is focused on the qualities of one's potential long-term partner. First, the jealous individual's anger and blame were focused more on the partner than th e rival. Second, mean anger and blame scores given the partner were we ll matched. In contrast, the rival received more anger and blame than deemed appropriate and considerably more anger than blame. These data suggest that, in the context of courtship, a rival is not simply a com petitor. Third, men were more inclined to think about aggressive actio n against the rival but women were more emotionally and behaviorally r eactive to the rival. The latter result implies that, in the context o f competition for an established romantic partner, a rival is more sal ient for women than for men. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.