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Waking the Green-Eyed Monster: Attachment Styles and Jealousy Induction in Romantic Relationships
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by Diane Whitson - Saint Louis University, Brent A. Mattingly - Ashland University
Categories: Social | Emotion
Although the majority of individuals involved in romantic relationships report having experienced jealousy, relatively little research has examined what factors lead individuals to attempt to induce jealousy in their romantic partners. We examined how adult attachment is related to individuals' jealousy-induction tendencies. Results indicated that (a) jealousy-induction was positively related to both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, (b) specific attachment styles (i.e., secure, preoccupied, dismissing, fearful) were not associated with more or fewer jealousy-inducing behaviors, and (c) women tend to induce jealousy more than men. Because jealousy is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, these findings suggest that insecurely attached individuals' behaviors may actually be counterproductive in that they are unintentionally making their partners less happy with the relationship.
Spring 2010 | Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research (Vol. 15, No. 1, p. 24), published by Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology (Chattanooga, TN). Copyright, 2010, Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology. All rights reserved.