Sex Differences in Jealousy in Evolutionary and Cultural Perspective

Tests From the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID23342129
AuthorsBram P Buunk (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Alois Angleitner (University of Bielefeld, Germany), Viktor Oubaid (University of Heidelberg, Germany), David M Bu (0000-0002-4467-7019, University of Texas, corresponding author), David M Buss (University of Texas)
Year1996
Volume7
Issue6
Pages359-363
Publication date1996-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-7976 • E-ISSN: 1467-9280
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00389.x
OpenAlexW2119040450
LanguageEN
Citations received86
References cited15

As predicted by models derived from evolutionary psychology, men within the United States have been shown to exhibit greater psychological and physiological distress to sexual than to emotional infidelity of their partner, and women have been shown to exhibit more distress to emotional than to sexual infidelity Because cross-cultural tests are critical for evolutionary hypotheses, we examined these sex differences in three parallel studies conducted in the Netherlands (N = 207), Germany (N = 200), and the United States (N = 224) Two key findings emerged First, the sex differences in sexual jealousy are robust across these cultures, providing support for the evolutionary psychological model Second, the magnitude of the sex differences varies somewhat across cultures—large for the United States, medium for Germany and the Netherlands Discussion focuses on the evolutionary psychology of jealousy and on the sensitivity of sex differences in the sexual sphere to cultural input

Developmental psychology · Distress · Evolutionary psychology · Evolutionary theory · Jealousy · Perspective (graphical) · Clinical Psychology · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology