Jealousy

1) Definition

In Brehm’s article, jealousy is defined using a quote, stating that it is an emotional reaction sparked when treasured resources associated with a relationship seem to be at risk due to a third party threat. The importance of resources as they relate to the emotion of sexual jealousy is further exemplified in Buss’ article, when he describes sexual jealousy in evolutionary terms. Involving internal female fertilization, males risk dedicating resources to offspring that are not their own, and females risk the abandonment of a male and his resources. Due to the importance of these investments, sexual jealousy arises, an emotional reaction to potential threats that protects from the loss of valued time and gifts.

2) Theoretical Framework

Brehm utilizes an informative approach as an explanatory framework for jealousy, whereas Buss uses a study-based approach, providing a brief general overview then structuring the research report into sections based on three different studies. Brehm divides various aspects of jealousy into segments and covers all material in a very thorough way. Buss’ explanatory framework includes descriptions of subjects involved in each study, methods used, and an overview of results. Buss uses the idea of Symons (1979) and Daly et al. (1982), that male sexual jealousy evolved as a way to fix the problem of paternity probability, to formulate his central hypothesis.

3) Methods

Brehm utilizes questionnaires such as “The Possessiveness Scale” and the “Multidimensional Jealousy Scale” in order to collect data about jealousy through ratings. Buss, on the other hand, formulates a hypothesis, and then tests this hypothesis using male and female subjects for three different studies that derive results.

4) Results

Both approaches to studying jealousy share the idea that the focus of jealousy is very different for men and women. For men, greater distress is triggered by a partner’s sexual infidelity, whereas women react more strongly to...