Jealousy may depend on the interplay of gender, sexual orientation, and gender of the rival

A new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior reveals the relationship between jealousy, the gender of both the partner and their rival, and the type of infidelity (sexual vs. emotional). The study included a large group of individuals identifying as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual.

The research found that individuals were consistently most jealous of rivals that were of their own gender, except in the case of bisexual women. Bisexual women were most jealous when their female partners were involved with men. The research team states, “jealousy was influenced by sex and sexual orientation of the individuals, sex of the partners, and also by sex of the rivals: same-sex rivals were perceived as most threatening.”

Prior research on the origins of jealousy had found that jealousy was often highest when there was a “reproductive risk.” In other words, if the partner was at risk of becoming pregnant, the jealousy was more intense than what would be found in other scenarios.

Heterosexual men have been shown to be the only group more concerned about sexual affairs than emotional ones. It appears that in heterosexual relationships, from the male perspective, the reproductive risk their partner takes if they are sexually unfaithful triggers feelings of jealousy.

Study author Jaroslava Varella Valentova and colleagues sought to explore the complexities of diverse romantic pairs, the various potential rivals, and the different types of infidelity (sexual or emotional). As stated by the research team, the goals were to investigate “the possible effects of sex and sexual orientation of the individual, and sex of the partner and rival on reported sexual versus emotional jealousy.”

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Participants were recruited from Brazil, Chile, and Portugal and numbered 1,744. The majority of these, 1328, were women. This group was divided into six groups, male and female groups of heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexual individuals.

All participants completed the Infidelity Dilemmas Questionnaire. The questionnaire asks subjects to consider different scenarios that are all examples of either sexual or emotional infidelity. Bisexual people were asked to fill the survey out twice, once when they imagined a female partner and once when they imagined their partner was male. Both of these results were included in the data.

This study again showed that heterosexual and bisexual males with a female partner were most worried about sexual infidelity with a male rival. Bisexual men with male partner did not show the same level of jealousy over sexual infidelity. Heterosexual women scored high marks for jealousy when their partner was having a sexual affair.

Both heterosexual and bisexual women with male partners showed the least concern about male rivals. However, for bisexual females with a female partner, the presence of a male rival was the most concerning.

Despite the heterosexual concern for sexual infidelity, when considering all participants, male and female, jealousy was most consistently found when partners were engaged in emotional infidelity. The research team hypothesized this is due to the risk that the partner will leave for a more fulfilling emotional relationship.

There were some limitations to the study; firstly, the sample was well-educated, economically stable, and had access to the internet. Consequently, these participants may not have been representative. Additionally, the study asked subjects to think about imaginary scenarios, but real situations could elicit different results.

Despite these limitations, the research team concludes with the following: “This is a novel study, being the first research specifically aimed at disentangling the role of sex, sexual orientation, sex of the partner and the rival on tendencies for sexual versus emotional jealousy.”

The study, “Jealousy is influenced by sex of the individual, their partner, and their rival“, was authored by Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Ana Maria Fernandez, Marco Pereira, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella.