Why do some people become more jealous than others? Some people require emotional closeness before sexual intercourse, whereas others are less restricted sexually. Because restricted people may invest more in relationships, they may feel greater rejection and anger when jealous. We tested this hypothesis in a daily diary study of 50 heterosexual dating couples. Participants completed a sociosexual orientation questionnaire to measure sexual restriction. Daily partner-related feelings of rejection, jealousy, and anger were assessed for 30 days. The more jealousy participants experienced, the greater their feelings of rejection and anger; this relationship was strongest for sexually restricted participants. These findings suggest that sexual restriction may increase risk of feelings of rejection and anger in the wake of jealousy.
Jealousy is a specific emotional response to a perceived relationship threat with a number of proposed functions (DeSteno et al., 2006 and Harmon-Jones et al., 2009). Although jealousy may function adaptively to motivate behaviors to maintain one’s relationship (Harris, 2003), jealousy can also increase anger and intimate partner violence (Daly and Wilson, 1988 and DeSteno et al., 2006). Understanding the factors that predict the intensity of this jealousy–anger link may be crucial to reducing the negative impact of jealousy-related behaviors on society.
Jealousy is closely linked to the experience of social exclusion or rejection (DeSteno et al., 2006 and Harmon-Jones et al., 2009). Rejection occurs with the perception that others do not want to include you in their relationships and interactions. Considerable research has demonstrated the potential for experiences of rejection to increase anger and aggression (e.g. Leary et al., 2006 and Twenge et al., 2001). Individuals may detect a potential threat to their relationships (such as their partner flirting with someone else), interpret that as a sign of disinterest or rejection, and then become angry. Although this chain of emotions both fits prior research and intuitively makes sense, it is worth considering what types of individuals might not experience the same progression. By definition, individuals who experience jealousy perceive a potential threat to their relationship or some aspect of it; however, the strength of their reaction may depend on how much they invest themselves in their relationship. Individual differences, especially those dictating approaches to relationships and sex, may affect these interpretations. People who invest more in their relationships emotionally may become vulnerable to their experiences of jealousy, which may relate to greater rejection sensitivity and anger.
Sociosexual orientation refers to how much emotional closeness a person requires before engaging in sexual intercourse (Gangestad and Simpson, 1990 and Snyder et al., 1986). A restricted sociosexual orientation indicates a strong need for emotional closeness prior to sexual intercourse, which often manifests itself as a desire to engage in sexual behavior in the context of a committed, loving relationship. In contrast, an unrestricted sociosexual orientation indicates a lower need for emotional closeness prior to intercourse and an interest in sexual activity outside of relationships. Restricted sociosexual orientation is associated with lower sexual permissiveness and interest in impersonal sex ( Simpson & Gangestad, 1991), lower frequency of sexual intercourse and reduced sex drive ( Ostovich & Sabini, 2004), less focus on physical and sexual attractiveness in mate selection ( Simpson and Gangestad, 1992, Swami and Allum, 2011, Swami et al., 2008 and Wilbur and Campbell, 2010), lower willingness to pursue multiple partners ( Seal, Agostinelli, & Hannett, 1994), and lower likelihood of infidelity and higher levels of commitment in intimate relationships ( Mattingly et al., 2011).
What drawbacks might accompany a sexually restricted orientation? Although numerous studies have investigated factors contributing to the existence of variability in sociosexual orientation and its relationship to sexual and romantic relationship strategies, relatively little work has explored how differences in sociosexual orientation affect emotional functioning within relationships. While a previous study hypothesized that sexually restricted people showed greater sexual and romantic jealousy, no associations between sociosexual orientation and jealous responses to an experimental situation evoking sexual and romantic jealousy were found (Russell & Harton, 2005). This lack of a relationship may be due to a more complex relationship between these constructs. Because jealousy relates to numerous negative outcomes, such as rejection and anger, sociosexual orientation could moderate the effect of jealousy on other affective experiences, even if it does not impact the extent to which individuals experience jealousy. Sexually restricted people show greater investment in their romantic relationships and may see their partner’s attraction to others as a reflection on their relationship’s status, leaving them vulnerable to stronger secondary reactions to jealousy, such as rejection and anger. In contrast, sexually unrestricted people, who do not require emotional connection and commitment for sexual activity, may be less likely to assume that their partner’s attraction to others also represents decreased commitment to the relationship. For these individuals, the experience of jealousy may therefore be less evocative of the pain of social rejection and produce fewer associated negative outcomes, such as anger.
In the present study, we explored these associations using a daily diary methodology. We hypothesized that daily feelings of jealousy would relate to greater simultaneous feelings of rejection and anger. More specifically, we predicted that sociosexual orientation would moderate this effect. We anticipated that sexually restricted participants would show a stronger association between jealousy and rejection, which would in turn relate to greater feelings of anger. Given the numerous previous findings demonstrating greater effects of sociosexual orientation in males than females, we also explored potential gender differences.
