Abstract
The authors propose that gender-differentiated patterns of jealousy in response to sexual and emotional infidelity are engendered by the differential impact of each event on self-esteem for men and women. Study 1 demonstrated that men derive relatively more self-esteem from their sex lives, whereas women's self-esteem is more contingent on romantic commitment. Based on terror management theory, it is predicted that if gender-differentiated responses to infidelity are motivated by gender-specific contingencies for self-esteem, they should be intensified following reminders of mortality. In Study 2, mortality salience (MS) increased distress in response to sexual infidelity for men and emotional infidelity for women. Study 3 demonstrated that following MS, men who place high value on sex in romantic relationships exhibited greater distress in response to sexual infidelity, but low -ex-value men's distress was attenuated. The authors discuss the implications for evolutionary and self-esteem-based accounts of jealousy as well as possible integration of these perspectives.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1585-1595 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Personality and social psychology bulletin |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2003 |
Keywords
- Evolution
- Gender-differentiated jealousy
- Self-esteem
- Terror management theory
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology