Differences in the Experience and Expression of Sexual Jealousy: A Terror Management Theory Perspective
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Although there is general agreement the causes and consequences of jealousy bear on self-esteem, research on the experience and expression of jealousy has produced conflicting results regarding gender differences. From the perspective of terror management theory TMT; 1], individuals adopt meaningful cultural worldviews—including culturally derived and expressed sexual attitudes—to strengthen their self-esteem and ward off existential anxiety. The present research assessed the idea that admitting vulnerability to feelings of sexual or emotional jealousy can pose a threat to self-esteem, thus altering how the emotion is expressed and communicated. Accordingly, we tested and found that men—generally thought to experience, exhibit, and express greater sexual jealousy than women—reported less sexual jealousy when mortality concerns were made salient. It is argued that gender differences in the expression of sexual jealousy (although not necessarily the experience) are moderated by self-esteem concerns associated with socialization and enculturation.
Source: Universal Journal of Psychology
Authors: Claude H. Miller, Bobi Ivanov, Mark J. Landau, Dini Masad, Shane Semmler, Jennifer Ann White
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2149939242