Post Date December, 03 2023
In a research paper published in the international journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, researchers from Chapman University conducted a large-scale study of 64000 Americans to clarify the differences between men and women when feeling jealous; Researchers say that heterosexual men are more likely to express anxiety about sexual infidelity than heterosexual women (54% for men and 35% for women), while heterosexual women are more likely to express anxiety about emotional infidelity (65% for women and 46% for men).
Participants can imagine factors that make them feel uneasy, such as their partner having sex with someone else or falling in love with someone else; Consistent with an evolutionary perspective, heterosexual men are more likely to exhibit anxiety about their partner's sexual betrayal, while heterosexual women are more likely to exhibit anxiety about their partner's emotional infidelity. Researcher David Frederick said that heterosexual men should stand out from many human groups because they exhibit far more anxiety about sexual betrayal than about emotional infidelity. Sexual and emotional infidelity can often cause harm to both men and women, including marital breakdown.
When men and women face the threat of infidelity, whether they exhibit strong jealousy or dress up meticulously, they are all aimed at attracting the attention of the other party. However, jealousy often induces harm and violent behavior, so it is crucial to reveal the mechanism that drives jealousy. From an evolutionary perspective, men always face a problem that women will never face, namely, the uncertainty of their fathers. They will never know that if the child has a certain genetic relationship with them, there is also a possibility that the child may also belong to another man; In contrast, women never face the uncertainty of their mothers. Therefore, when speculating that men and women experience sexual jealousy, researchers will find that men tend to react more strongly than women.
However, from a sociocultural perspective, there is no difference between men and women. This study points out that men are socially considered masculine, which includes their strong sexual abilities. If a male partner has sexual infidelity, then this is the greatest threat to them. In contrast, women are more likely to consider their relationships in the family. If their partner exhibits emotional infidelity, this may affect their self-awareness, which is far more serious than sexual infidelity committed by the other party.
Finally, researchers say that individuals' responses to sexual and emotional infidelity are more likely to be influenced by environmental and individual factors, such as age, income, and other factors. Unfaithfulness to a partner is a common cause of marital breakdown. This study provides new research ideas and clues to reveal the differences between men and women in emotional and sexual infidelity.
