1. Introduction
The emotion of jealousy has been a topic of study and concern throughout the history of mankind. Romantic and sexual jealousy have often been associated with many acts of violence, including homicide, murder-suicide, domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, and revenge. Indeed, such jealousy is largely a motivating factor for these acts of violence. In fact, FBI statistics indicate that over a third of all solved murders involve spouses, lovers, or rivals of the murderer, and jealousy as a major cause (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1986). Jealousy has also been shown to be one of the primary causes of marital problems and divorce. These findings were documented through a survey of therapists, which reported that jealousy is a problem in one third of all married couples participating in marital therapy (White & Mullen, 1989). Given that 75 to 80 percent of American adults will be married at least once in their lifetime (Strong, DeVault, & Cohen, 2011), the nature of jealousy is of considerable importance in the course of scientific study. Indeed, researchers in the field of sociobiology have also proposed that jealousy has an important function for genetic survival (e.g., Buss, 1991; Dawkins, 1976; Symons, 1979; Wilson, 1978). According to Pines (1992), sexual jealousy is the result of the need for exclusivity in both men and women; in men, the need is for sexual exclusivity (ensuring that the offspring is theirs), while in women, the need for exclusivity is for commitment (ensuring that the offspring is provided for).
2. Objectives
From a scientific perspective, jealousy remains a point of interest and the focus of research among psychologists, marital and family therapists, sociologists, anthropologists, sociobiologists, and evolutionary psychologists. The focus of the current study is to identify and measure the interaction among certain relational, emotional, social, gender, and evolutionary factors that may influence the levels of jealousy in human beings. This study will attempt to predict the relationship between both adaptive and maladaptive traits and circumstances in human beings that are affected by different rates of jealousy. What is being explored here is an attempt to distinguish between when jealousy is used in an adaptive and functional manner (i.e., to protect and preserve a relationship) and when jealousy interferes with individuals’ ability to manage their relationships, emotions, self-worth, and beliefs about themselves and significant others—namely, when their relationships are threatened or challenged. Based on these goals, this study offers potential benefits for greater society, especially social service agencies, clinical counselors, family therapists, and other social institutions that serve the public.
3. Development of Relevant Research
In the 19th century, Darwin (1871) proposed that human beings and animals express emotions in the same way. He observed jealousy in both humans and animals (Darwin, 1871). American psychologist William James and Danish psychologist Carl Lange later suggested that emotions were the perception of bodily changes; this proposal is referred to as the James-Lange theory of emotion (Lange & James, 1922). Stanley Schachter, another American psychologist, proposed a social psychological explanation of emotions. He argued that two components—mind and body—together contribute to emotional experience. A person first becomes aware of what he or she is feeling cognitively, then experiences physiological arousal. Schachter referred to this as the two-factor theory of emotion (Schachter, 1964).
4. Operational Definitions
Prior to examining specific factors of jealousy, it is important to define related terms to ensure a shared understanding of the discussion at hand.
4.1. Jealousy
Much debate and discussion have emerged surrounding the meaning and definition of jealousy. Jealousy is a complex emotion that can be triggered by a perceived threat (real or imagined) to a valued relationship (Pines, 1992). Most theorists agree that jealousy comprises two components: a feeling of bruised pride and a feeling that one’s property rights have been violated (Clanton & Smith, 1986).
4.2. Investment Model
The most important part of a relationship model is its level of commitment.
4.3. Committed Relationship
A committed relationship refers to being involved in an exclusive romantic relationship with another person.
4.4. Attachment Theory
Attachment theory defines the degree and quality of an infant’s attachment to his or her primary caregiver, which is reflected in his or her love relationships as an adult.
4.5. Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety occurs when a baby shows signs of distress after his or her mother has left the baby’s presence.
4.6. Secure Base
A child uses the caregiver as a secure base to explore the world around him or her.
4.7. Rival
A rival is another romantic or sexual partner who is threatening the current relationship.
4.8. Rejection
Rejection occurs when an individual chooses another romantic or sexual partner (i.e., other than the current partner).
4.9. High/Low Trait Jealous Individuals
Individuals who have a low tolerance for jealousy are termed high trait jealous individuals. Individuals who have a high tolerance for jealousy are termed low trait jealous individuals.
4.10. Sexual Infidelity
Individuals who have a low tolerance for jealousy are termed high trait jealous individuals. Individuals who have a high tolerance for jealousy are termed low trait jealous individuals.
4.11. Emotional Infidelity
Emotional infidelity occurs when a romantic partner is emotionally open with someone other than his or her partner, although this excludes physical contact.
4.12. Committed
Studies on commitment have demonstrated that the most important aspect of a romantic relationship is its level of commitment (Rusbult, 1980; Rusbult, 1983). This perspective is referred to as the investment model, which defines commitment as the experience of relying on a romantic relationship to fulfill important and intrapersonal needs (Agnew, Van Lange, Rusbult, & Langston, 1998; Le & Agnew, 2003; Rusbult, Martz, & Agnew, 1998). Rusbult (1980) also discovered that relationship commitment was associated with increasing levels of relationship satisfaction, investment, and the degree to which outcomes from the present relationship exceed expected outcomes from an alternative relationship or no relationship at all.
In terms of the relationship between jealousy and commitment, Rydell, McConnell, and Bringle (2004) discovered that individuals in committed relationships experienced higher levels of jealousy than individuals in less committed relationships.
Other studies examining jealousy and commitment revealed that women are more inclined than men to engage in jealousy-evoking behaviors, such as flirting with someone else, to make their partner believe that they are desirable and that they should keep their commitments (Rusbult, 1980). These research results lead to the first hypothesis of the current study:
Hypothesis 1: People in a committed relationship are more likely to self-report higher levels of jealousy than those who are not in a committed relationship.
4.13. Anxiety
Understanding anxiety and jealousy should involve a discussion in relation to different attachment styles in the context of romantic and sexual relationships. From an attachment perspective, three emotions are associated with separation or loss of a relationship: fear, anger, and anxiety (Sharpsteen & Kirkpatrick, 1997). The present study focuses on how anxiety is related to jealousy. According to Sharpsteen & Kirkpatrick (1997), fear or anxiety is the primary reaction associated with the threat or separation from or the loss of one’s attachment figure. Bowlby (1973) demonstrated that another type of anxiety, which he defined as separation anxiety, is a natural and expectable response to separation from an attachment figure, as the absence of one’s attachment figure signals an increased risk of danger of loss of a relationship.
In terms of jealousy and anxiety, attachment theory provides an understanding whereby the possible loss of one’s romantic partner not only disrupts the attachment bond, but also signals the possible loss of caregiving (Shaver, Hazan, & Bradshaw, 1988). As with infants, adults would be expected to feel anxious or fearful at the prospect of losing their preeminent source of support and comfort (i.e., secure base).
Mathes, Adams, & Davies (1985) proposed a separate theory that the loss of self-esteem leads to anxiety and anger, suggesting that when a threat emerges from a sexual or romantic rival, the result is rejection by the romantic partner, the loss of self-esteem, and ultimately an increase in anxiety. Thus, the second hypothesis of the current study is:
Hypothesis 2: Individuals who self-report higher rates of anxiety are more likely to self-report higher levels of jealousy.
4.14. Self-Esteem
White (1981) proposed a theory about the relationship between self-esteem and jealousy, demonstrating that rejection mediates the relation between the loss of a partner to a romantic rival and the loss of self-esteem. The loss of a romantic partner to a rival constitutes rejection, and rejection causes the loss of self-esteem (White, 1981). Furthermore, Mathes, Adams, and Davies (1985) described how anxiety is the result of the loss of self-esteem, which is caused by rejection in a relationship due to a romantic rival. The loss of a romantic partner due to romantic rivalry causes a greater loss of self-esteem for high trait jealous individuals than for low trait jealous individuals (Mathes, Adams, & Davies, 1985).
Clanton (1989) proposed another belief about jealousy and self-esteem—namely, that awareness of social forces can enhance the understanding of the contemporary experience of jealousy. For example, according to Clanton (1989), jealousy is caused by low self-esteem. Clanton (1989) discussed the belief that personal failures and problems are caused by low self-esteem, suggesting that an individual may have high self-esteem in general, but can still be uncertain and vulnerable in certain areas. One may have high self-esteem but still be jealous if a valued relationship is threatened. Jealousy can also cause low self-esteem, but low self-esteem does not cause jealousy (Clanton, 1989). Thus, the third hypothesis in the current study is:
Hypothesis 3: Individuals who self-report lower rates of self-esteem are more likely to self-report higher rates of jealousy.
4.15. Sexual Infidelity
Buss (1991) conducted a study in which he asked male and female students how upset they would be if they discovered that their romantic partner had either sex or a deep emotional attachment to someone else. His results indicated that 60% of the men were very upset at the thought of a sexual liaison, whereas 84% of the women were very upset at the thought of a deep emotional connection. A separate study was conducted that investigated the rival explanations between two different sociocultural groups—one from Greece and one from Germany—related to sexual differences in distress based on sexual versus emotional infidelity (Bohner, Echterhoff, Glaf, Patrzek, & Lampridis, 2010). The results once again indicated that men reported more distress from sexual infidelity compared to emotional infidelity than women. These results confirm the hypothesis that participants’ gender affects an evolutionary hypothesis in that men experience more distress over sexual infidelity compared to emotional infidelity than women (Bohner, Echterhoff, Glaf, Patrzek, & Lampridis, 2010). Therefore, the current study will test the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4: Men will self-report higher rates of jealousy in relation to sexual infidelity than women.
4.16. Emotional Infidelity
Wiederman and Kendall (1999) conducted a study based on a prediction derived from the evolutionary view of jealousy that men preferentially recalled cues of sexual infidelity, whereas women preferentially recalled cues to emotional infidelity. This preferential recall was predicted to be more pronounced in a personally threatening context than in a personally less threatening context. As predicted, in a surprise recall test, men preferentially recalled cues to sexual infidelity, whereas women preferentially recalled cues to emotional infidelity. This preferential recall was significant for both men and women only in the personally more threatening context condition. Based on these findings, the final hypothesis of the current study is:
Hypothesis 5: Women will self-report higher rates of jealousy in relation to emotional infidelity than men.
5. Methods
5.1. Participants
At a California Community College, 99 students were selected from three introductory sociology classes to participate in the study. There were 66 females (66%) and 33 males (33%). The mean age was 23.5 (s. d. = 3.7) years, with a range of 17 - 52 years. The race/ethnic breakdown was as follows:
8 (8 %) self-identified as White/European American.
7 (7%) self-identified as Black/African American.
75 (76%) self-identified as Hispanic/Latino American.
9 (9%) self-identified as Asian American.
5.2. Materials
The study used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck & Steer, 1993), a Self-Report Jealousy Scale (Bringle et al., 1979), and the General Information Self-Report Scale (GIS), a survey questionnaire designed especially for this study.
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale consists of 10 questions and takes about 5 minutes to administer. The goal of this survey is to measure the general feelings that people have about themselves. If they strongly agree with the statement, they will circle SA. If they agree with the statement, they will circle A. If they disagree with the statement, they will circle D. If they strongly disagree with the statement, they will circle SD.
Examples of statements in this survey include:
“At times, I think I am no good at all.”
“I certainly feel useless at times.”
“I wish I could have more respect for myself.”
The scale measured the level of the participant’s self-esteem. The complete Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is located in Appendix A. The RSE is a ten-item, Guttman style, unidimensional measure of self-esteem that has shown high reliability and validity (Gray-Little, Williams, and Hancock, 1997; Robins, Hendin, and Trzesniewski, 2001).
The (BAI) is a 21 multiple-choice self-report inventory and takes about 10 minutes to administer. The purpose of this survey is to identify a list of common symptoms of anxiety that indicate how much they have been bothered by that particular symptom during the past month, including the day of the survey, by circling the number in the corresponding space from a scale of 0 - 3 in the column next to each symptom.
Examples of some of the symptoms in this survey include:
“Numbness/Tingling”
“Terrified/Afraid”
“Nervous”
Each item is descriptive of subjective, somatic, or panic-related symptoms of anxiety. The complete (BAI) Scale is located in Appendix B. The BAI is psychometrically sound. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) ranges from .92 to .94 for adults and test-retest (one week interval) reliability is .75. Concurrent validity with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Revised is .51; .58 for the State and .47 for the Trait subscales of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Form Y, and .54 for the mean 7-day anxiety rating of the Weekly Record of Anxiety and Depression.
The Self-Report Jealousy Scale consists of 25 questions and takes about 10 minutes to administer. The purpose of this study is to measure the amount of jealousy an individual would experience after reading about some situations in which they may have been involved or could be involved. They were then instructed to rate them regarding how they would feel if they were confronted with the situation by circling a number that corresponded to one of the following reactions: 0 = Pleased, 1 = Mildly upset, 2 = Upset, 3 = Very upset, or 4 = Extremely upset.
Examples of situations in this survey include:
“Your partner goes to a bar several evenings without you.”
“At a party, your partner kisses someone you do not know.”
“Someone flirts with your partner.”
This scale measured the tendency of the participant to get jealous in a variety of situations. The complete Self-Report Jealousy Scale is located in Appendix C. The Self-Report Jealousy Scale, which was developed by Bringle, Roach, Andler, and Evenbeck (1979), has adequate test-retest reliability. Correlations with other personality traits have been examined in efforts to demonstrate its validity. People who score high on the scale tend to have low self-esteem, to be anxious, to see the world in negative terms, and to feel they have little control over their lives. These are interesting preliminary findings, although more research is needed to better validate this instrument.
The (GIS) Scale consists of 6 questions and takes about 3 minutes to complete. This survey measured the tendency of the participant to become jealous in situations in which they were involved, or could become involved, based on their gender and relationship status.
Examples of questions in this survey include:
“What is your relationship status?”
“What would make you more emotionally upset?”
“If you discovered that your mate/significant other was sexually involved with another person” or “If your mate/significant other fell in love with another person?”
The survey is scaled using a multiple-choice response format. The response categories for each of the six questions range from two to five possible responses for each question. The complete Scale is located in Appendix D. This scale was designed for this particular study.
5.3. Procedures
Participants were informed that four separate survey questionnaires would be administered together in a survey packet. The four surveys administered to the participants were: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck & Steer, 1993), a Self-Report Jealousy Scale (Bringle et al., 1979), and the General Information Self-Report Scale (GIS), a survey questionnaire designed especially for this study.
A total of 99 undergraduate students enrolled in three separate introductory sociology classes at Cerritos Community College were recruited and participated in the study.
All three groups of respondents at separate class times were told to read the instructions carefully before completing each subsequent survey included in a survey packet. They were given 28 minutes to complete the entire survey packet. The experimenter distributed the survey packet to each student and instructed the participants to raise their hands if they had any questions about how to complete the survey packet. The surveys were then collected after all participants had completed their survey packets.
Participants were told that the study investigated the relationship between self-esteem, anxiety, commitment, gender status, and jealousy. All participants were thanked and informed that they would receive 20 class points for taking part in the research study.
6. Results
H1 predicted that people in a committed relationship are more likely to self-report higher levels of jealousy than those not in a committed relationship. An Independent Samples T-Test was conducted (t(85) = .477, p = .635) between those who were single or in a committed relationship and reports of levels of jealousy. The interaction between relationship status and jealousy was nonsignificant. The measure of the means (see Table 1) indicates that those participants who are in a committed relationship did not report higher rates of jealousy than those who were single. Therefore, the prediction was not supported.
Table 1. Means and (standard deviations) associated with relationship commitment and jealousy.
Relationship Status |
Relationship Commitment Scale |
M |
SD |
N |
Single |
60.2 |
17.1 |
43 |
Committed |
58.3 |
18.5 |
44 |
H2 predicted that individuals who self-report higher rates of anxiety are more likely to self-report higher levels of jealousy. A negative correlation was expected between those participants who self-reported higher rates of anxiety and those who self-reported higher levels of jealousy. A Pearson correlation was conducted between anxiety and jealousy scores: (r), (99), p = .780. No significant correlation was found between those participants who self-reported higher levels of anxiety and those who self-reported higher levels of jealousy. The correlation between rates of jealousy and anxiety showed no significant correlation in either direction, as the r-values are very close to zero. The prediction was not supported.
H3 predicted that individuals who self-report lower rates of self-esteem are more likely to self-report higher rates of jealousy. For this hypothesis, a negative correlation was expected for those participants who reported low levels of self-esteem and higher levels of jealousy. A Pearson correlation was performed between self-esteem and jealousy scores: (r), (99) = .090, p = .374. The results revealed no significant correlation in either direction was found, as the r-values were very close to zero between self-esteem and jealousy scores. Therefore, the hypothesis was not supported.
H4 predicted that men will self-report higher rates of jealousy in relation to sexual infidelity than women. An Independent Samples T-Test was conducted (t(97) = −1.2, p = .203) between the level of jealousy and reports of sexual infidelity between men and women. The interaction between rates of jealousy between men and women and sexual infidelity was nonsignificant. The measure of the means (see Table 2), however, indicates a trend in the direction of the hypothesis, where men experienced higher levels of jealousy related to sexual infidelity than women. The prediction, though, was not supported.
H5 predicted that women will self-report higher rates of jealousy in relation to emotional infidelity than men. An Independent Samples T-Test was performed, (t(52) = −.7, p = .482), between the level of jealousy and reports of emotional infidelity between men and women. The interaction between levels of jealousy between men and women and emotional infidelity was nonsignificant. The measure of the means (see Table 3), however, indicates a trend in the direction of the hypothesis, where women experienced higher levels of jealousy related to emotional infidelity than men. The hypothesis was not supported.
Table 2. Means and (standard deviations) associated with gender, sexual infidelity, and jealousy.
Gender |
Sexual Infidelity |
M |
SD |
N |
Male |
1.4 |
.5 |
33 |
Female |
1.5 |
.49 |
66 |
Table 3. Means and (standard deviations) associated with gender, emotional infidelity, and jealousy.
Gender |
Emotional Infidelity |
M |
SD |
N |
Male |
52.1 |
17 |
15 |
Female |
55.7 |
16 |
39 |
7. Discussion
Jealousy is a major topic of study in romantic and sexual relationships. In fact, jealousy is an important issue in romantic relationships: it is rated among the top three most frequent problems experienced in intimate relationships (Zusman & Knox, 1998). The expectations of this study were that the measure of an individual’s jealousy would be influenced by their relationship status, level of anxiety and self-esteem, and gender status. For this experiment, the null hypothesis revealed that there was no relationship between self-esteem, anxiety, commitment, or gender status and levels of romantic and sexual jealousy. Even though the findings for all five hypotheses were not supported, the results did yield a trend in the direction of two of the hypotheses between the measure of jealousy and sexual infidelity in men, and the measure of jealousy and emotional infidelity in women. The measure of the means (see Table 2), however, indicates a trend in the direction of hypothesis 4, where men experienced higher levels of jealousy related to sexual infidelity than women. While the measure of the means (see Table 3), however, also indicates a trend in the direction of hypothesis 5, where women experienced higher levels of jealousy related to emotional infidelity than men, even though the hypotheses were not supported for H4 or H5.
In terms of the relationship between relationship status and jealousy, it was predicted that individuals in committed relationships would experience higher levels of jealousy than individuals in less-committed relationships. What may have influenced the results of this particular hypothesis was that the ratio of participants of 2 females for every 1 male could have yielded more substantial findings if more males had been included in the measure of this particular hypothesis. Jealousy related to emotional infidelity was higher than that of men. The hypothesis was not supported.
8. Conclusion
Overall, the results of this study did not reveal that there were any statistically significant relationships for any of the hypotheses, indicating that, in the sample, these factors (i.e., commitment, anxiety, self-esteem, sexual infidelity, and emotional infidelity) did not predict levels of jealousy. Even though several studies discussed in this paper yielded statistically significant results. As mentioned previously, the measure of the means tested indicates a trend in the direction of hypothesis 4, where men experienced higher levels of jealousy related to sexual infidelity than women, and the measure of the means where women experienced higher levels of jealousy related to emotional infidelity than men in hypothesis 5 may be worthwhile investigating in the future, along with recruiting more men and women to survey for a future study. Therefore, it would be helpful to design a more diverse and precise study in the future to see if we find a relationship between the factors that influence jealousy, which may assist clinicians and researchers in understanding the nature of jealousy.
Appendix A
Survey Questionnaire I
Instructions: Below is a list of statements dealing with your general feelings about yourself. If you strongly agree, circle SA. If you agree with the statement, circle A. If you disagree, circle D. If you strongly disagree, circle SD.
On the whole I am satisfied with myself. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
At times, I think I am no good at all. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I feel that I have a number of good qualities. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I am able to do things as well as most other people. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I feel that I do not have much to be proud of. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I certainly feel useless at times. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I feel that I’m a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I wish I could have more respect for myself. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
All in all, I’m inclined to feel like I’m a failure. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
I take a positive attitude towards myself. |
SA |
A |
D |
SD |
Appendix B
Survey Questionnaire II
Instructions:
Below is a list of common symptoms of anxiety. Please carefully read each item in the list. Indicate how much you have been bothered by that symptom in the past month, including today, by circling the number in the corresponding space in the column next to each symptom.
|
Not At All |
Mildly Didn’t bother me at all |
Moderately It wasn’t
pleasant at times |
Severely It bothered me a lot |
Numbness/Tingling |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Feeling Hot |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Wobbliness in legs |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Unable to relax |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Fear of worst happening |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Dizzy/lightheaded |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Heart pounding/racing |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Unsteady |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Terrified/afraid |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Nervous |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Feeling of choking |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Hands trembling |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Shaky/unsteady |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Fear of losing control |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Difficulty in breathing |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Fear of dying |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Indigestion |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Faint/lightheaded |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Face flushed |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Hot/cold sweats |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Appendix C
Survey Questionnaire III
Instructions:
The following scale lists some situations in which you have been involved, or in which you could be involved. Rate them with regard to how you would feel if you were confronted with the situation by marking a number that corresponds to one of the reactions shown below. Do not omit any items.
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Pleased |
Mildly Upset |
Upset |
Very Upset |
Extremely Upset |
_______1. |
Your partner expresses the desire that you both develop other romantic relationships. |
_______2. |
Your partner spends increasingly more time at work; with a co-worker you feel could be sexually attractive. |
_______3. |
Your partner suddenly shows an interest in going to a party when they find out that someone will be there whom he or she has been romantically involved with before. |
_______4. |
At a party, your partner suddenly hugs someone other than you. |
_______5. |
You notice your partner repeatedly looking at another. |
_______6. |
Your partner spends increasingly more time in outside activities & hobbies in which you are not included. |
_______7. |
At a party, your partner kisses someone you do not know. |
_______8. |
Your boss, with whom you have had a working relationship in the past, now seems to be more interested in the work of a co-worker. |
_______9. |
Your partner goes to a bar several evenings without you. |
_______10. |
Your partner received a promotion, and the new position requires a great deal of travel, business dinners, parties; most of who you are not invited to attend. |
_______11. |
At a party, your partner dances with someone, you do not know. |
_______12. |
You and your co-worker worked hard on an important project. However, your boss, gave your co-worker full credit for it. |
_______13. |
Someone flirts with your partner. |
_______14. |
At a party, your partner repeatedly kisses someone you do not know. |
_______15. |
Your partner has sexual relations with someone else. |
_______16. |
Your sibling is given more freedom, such as staying up later, or driving the car. |
_______17. |
Your partner comments to you on how attractive another person is. |
_______18. |
While at a social gathering of a group of friends, your partner spends little time talking to you, but engages the others in animated conversation. |
_______19. |
Grandparents visit your family, and they seem to devote most of their attention to your sibling instead of you. |
_______20. |
Your partner flirts with someone else. |
_______21. |
Your sibling seems to be receiving more affection and attention from your parents. |
_______22. |
You have just discovered your partner is having an affair with someone at work. |
_______23. |
The person who has been your assistant for a number of years at work decides to take a similar position with someone else. |
_______24. |
The group to which you belong appears to be leaving you out of activities, etc. |
_______25. |
Your best friend suddenly shows interest in doing things with someone else. |
Appendix D
Survey Questionnaire IV
Gender _____________ Age ______________ Race_________________
Please circle one answer for each of the following questions:
Do you consider yourself to be a political:
(a) Conservative (b) Liberal (c) Independent (d) Other
How much income did you earn last year?
(a) 0 - 9999 (b) 10,000 - 19,999 (c) 20,000 - 29,999 (d) 30,000 - 39,999
(e) 40,000 - more
What is your relationship status?
(a) Single (b) Dating; not in a relationship (c) In a committed relationship
What is your education status?
(a) High School Graduate (b) Some college (c) Bachelor’s Degree
(d) Graduate Degree
The question is which would make you more emotionally upset?
Please answer by circling either a or b.
If you discovered that your mate/significant other was sexually involved with another person?
OR
(b) If your mate/significant other feel in love with another person?
How often do you attend religious services?
(a) None (b) 1×/week (c) 2×/week (d) 3×/week (e) 4×/week