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Introduction:
What makes one gender more likely to be jealous? Is one gender more prone to control their mate’s actions (such as their behavior, their dress, their friendships)? Is one gender more likely to be unreasonable, by being emotionally or physically abusive, or by being paranoid about their mate’s feelings? Is one gender more likely to illicit jealous behavior, by flirting with another potential mate, or by talking about how another mate is more desirable? These are questions which people think about in their relationships often, and learning more about them is vital to having more healthy and successful relationships in the future. Due to this fact, our study will examine all of these issues through the specific hypothesis that men are more likely to be provoked by women’s actions into jealous behavior, and are more likely to retaliate by aggressive means or to sensor their partner’s actions. This study will show that men are more aggressive than women, and that jealous behavior, though it may be more pronounced in men, is universal.
Relevance of Research Question:
Our research is relevant to the sociobiological viewpoint that Wright talks about in his book The Moral Animal. In sociobiological thinking, women are more concerned with sustaining lasting relationships in order to increase their reproductive success, while men are more interested in mating with as many women as possible in order to pass on their genes. This concept relates to jealousy in a very concrete manner. Even if a woman feels jealous, she will be less likely to act on these feelings, because she wishes to keep her mate. On the other hand a man that feels jealous will have no qualms about acting on his feelings, as he is looking out for his own reproductive success at all costs. This idea is also supported by David M. Buss, Ph.D. in his book The Dangerous Passion. For example, he states that " men’s jealousy is an evolutionary response to something alarming: the threat of a love one’s infidelity." Each of these texts supports our hypothesis about humans’ jealous reactions and provocations. We will continue to do more research on the subject as our project progresses.
Real world examples of jealousy abound in our culture. One only has to eat at Alexander dining hall or go to a seminar class to see examples of jealousy in action. Here is a simple example of jealousy that is played out over an over again; a male (we’ll call him Ryan) and female (we’ll call her Tara) are in a relationship. Tara has many male friends, however she has assured Ryan that they are just platonic relationships. He however is not willing to believe this fact and makes a point of controlling her interactions with said friends. These types of situations happen all the time. In fact, often times, seemingly innocent jealousy can turn into something that is much more dangerous.
We will also be examining the phenomena of spousal and dating battery. Although not all cases of jealousy have these results, it is very important to look at them nonetheless. Domestic violence is a serious problem in our culture, and is also prevalent in other cultures as well. In extreme cases, such behavior can lead to murder. Usually, the man in these situations is described as overly paranoid and/or jealous, and will limit their partners contact with others. There have been numerous studies which point to jealousy as a major cause of such abuse.
Experimental Design:
We will construct a survey that will distributed to approximately 100 Miami students. This survey will ask questions such as gender, age, sexual orientation, relationship status, number of past relationships and how jealousy may have affected them. Once we have conducted our surveys we will then sort them by sex as well as sexual orientation. We will only be using heterosexual and bisexual orientations in our research, as we are comparing differing genders in relationships. Once our surveys have been sorted in both categories, we will then put our results into StatView. Our analysis will be statistically sound by calculating the p value and other relevant figures such as the mean and median. The important materials in our study will be our survey as well as the research books an web sites that we will use. As far as the class is concerned, we have presented our poster on the topic to introduce our ideas and give out our preliminary survey. Using the feedback from the class discussion, we will re-evaluate our survey and come to the class to gain feedback. Our target audience for surveying will be various Miami University students. We are attempting to get 100 completed surveys by the end of our project. We feel that 100 is a large enough number to supply us with significant results.
Medium of Final Project:
For our final project (in addition to a written paper) we will be making a video presentation in a case study format, using not only interviews but clips from various aspects of popular culture. Sitcoms often use jealousy in their plot lines, and can be a very humorous way of looking at the subject. Also, we feel that getting other views on jealousy besides surveys will enhance our understanding of the topic as well as make it more interesting to present. Interviews with others can be a very effective way of getting information that is not just quantitative, and we think that case studies can show the complexities and specifics of relationships which cannot be conveyed through a survey.
Time-line:
Week #8 - finalize survey questions / make copies of survey/ research for paper
Week # 9 - distribute surveys to : RHA, CLC, Alexander Dining Hall / plan out video equipment/ research for paper
Week # 10 - distribute more surveys as needed / research for paper
Week # 11- begin interviews / tabulating surveys
Week # 12 - StatView / finalize results of surveys
Week # 13 - procure popular culture video references etc.
Week # 14- Begin constructing final presentation/ report
Week # 15 - Video editing / final work
Week # 16 - Finish loose ends
Sample Survey:
Age: ______
Sex: m f
Sexual Orientation:
___ heterosexual
___ homosexual
___ bisexual
Relationship status:
___ single
___ dating (casual)
___ dating (monogamous)
___ engaged
___ married
Number of people you have referred to as your partner/ girlfriend/ boyfriend:
___ 0
___ 1 to 10
___ more than 10
How many sexual partners have you had? ____
Please rate the following statements on a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree)
Thinking or hearing about your partner’s former lover or romantic evolvement with others makes you jealous.
At parties you are aware of every move or gesture your partner makes.
It would be a major crisis if you discovered that your partner had casual sexual intercourse with someone else.
It would be a major emotional crisis if you discovered that your partner had a continuing emotionally bonded relationship (that did not involve sex) with someone else.
You are often jealous of your partner’s friends, even if you know that your partner is not sexually involved with them.
References to be used in our project include (but are not limited to):
David M. Buss. The Dangerous Passion : Why Jealousy is as Necessary as Love and Sex. New York : Free Press, c2000
Kathleen Fullerton Bernhard; James E. Bernhard, editor. Jealousy, Its Nature and Treatment.
Springfield, Ill., U.S.A. : Thomas, c1986
Eugene W. Mathes. Jealousy : The Psychological Data. Lanham, Md. : Univesity Press of America, c1992
Eugene Schoenfeld. Jealousy, Taming the Green-eyed Monster. New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1980, c1979
Gregory L. White, Paul E. Mullen. Jealousy : Theory, Research, and Clinical Strategies. New York, NY : Guilford Press, 1989
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