Jealousy in Sexual and Emotional Infidelity: An Alternative to the Evolutionary Explanation - Statistical Data Included

Journal of Sex Research, May, 2000 by Dawn K. Nannini, Lawrence S. Meyers

Level of jealous tendencies, a dichotomous variable, was based on the median split (median = 4.00) of de Weerth and Kalma's (1993) measure of sexual jealousy and its triggers. Participants indicated on a 7-point summative response scale, varying from 1 (Indifferent) to 7 (Angry, upset, or sad), how they would feel should their partner interact in specific situations with another individual. The situations included laughing and talking, working closely, touching often during conversation, giving a present, making love, and thinking often of an individual of the opposite sex. For this study, de Weerth and Kalma's wording of the questions was slightly modified by asking participants to imagine his/her partner interacting with someone the same sex as himself/herself in the various situations.

The three conditions of infidelity were represented by three different scenarios, each depicted within a different context; they were a business trip, a vacation, or a nightclub. Three parallel versions of each scenario were used across the three conditions of infidelity resulting in a total of nine different scenarios. An example of one scenario representing the condition of sexual infidelity follows:

   Your boyfriend/girlfriend arrives home from a week-long business trip only
   to inform you that he/she met someone that he/she found very physically
   attractive. Although they had few common interests they engaged in sexual
   intercourse throughout the week. You are sure that your partner loves you
   very much and highly values your relationship together. Your partner has
   reassured you that even if he/she did have sex with someone else his/her
   attraction to the person was purely physical.

For the remaining two conditions of infidelity for this particular scenario version, the narrative remained the same with the exception of those parts that detailed the nature of the imagined partner's involvement with the individual outside of the romantic relationship. The condition of emotional infidelity for this scenario version read as follows:

   Your boyfriend/girlfriend arrives home from a week-long business trip only
   to inform you that he/she met someone that he/she found very intriguing.
   They spent the entire week together exploring their common interests. You
   are sure that your partner loves you very much and highly values your
   relationship together. Your partner has reassured you that even if he/she
   enjoyed the company of someone else while he/she was away they did not
   engage in sexual intercourse

The last condition of infidelity--both sexual and emotional involvement--for this scenario version read as follows:

   Your boyfriend/girlfriend arrives home from a week-long business trip only
   to inform you that he/she met someone that he/she found very intriguing.
   They spent the entire week together exploring their common interests.
   Before your partner returned home they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
   You are sure that your partner loves you very much and highly values your
   relationship together.