Interracial couples tend to feel more jealousy, but a strong sense of unity can buffer its impact

A new study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships finds that people in interracial relationships tend to experience higher levels of jealousy than those in same-race relationships, but a strong sense of partnership can protect them from the harmful effects of this emotion.

Jealousy is a complex emotion that often stems from fear of losing a valued relationship to a rival. It can manifest in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors directed at both the partner and any perceived threats to the relationship. Previous studies hinted that interracial couples may experience more jealousy, but those investigations were limited in scope.

Led by Vikki Pham, researchers from the University of Toronto aimed to fill these gaps. They were interested in understanding not just whether interracial partners felt more jealousy, but also what specific types of jealousy they experienced—and whether certain relationship strengths could help counteract its negative effects.

The study surveyed 394 adults from the United States and Canada who were in either interracial (196) or same-race (198) romantic relationships. Participants answered detailed questions about their feelings of jealousy, their sense of unity with their partner (called “couple identity”), and how satisfied they were with their relationships. They also provided background information such as age and how long they had been with their partner.

The researchers discovered that people in interracial relationships were more likely to report feeling jealous frequently and intensely (general jealousy). They also worried more about other people being interested in their partners (cognitive jealousy) and were more likely to feel distrust and anger toward potential romantic rivals (emotional jealousy).

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Interestingly, these heightened feelings did not translate into more aggressive or possessive behaviors. Individuals in interracial and same-race relationships reported similar levels of behavioral jealousy, such as flaunting their relationship or putting down rivals.

However, not all the differences remained once the researchers dug deeper. When they accounted for attachment anxiety (a person’s fear of being abandoned or unloved) the differences in general and cognitive jealousy disappeared.

“Greater social disapproval, commonly experienced by individuals in interracial relationships, might heighten their fears of rejection and account for their reportedly higher attachment anxiety compared to those in same-race relationships,” the authors suggested.

But there was a bright side. Pham and colleagues discovered that when people in interracial relationships had a strong sense of togetherness with their partner—a feeling of being a “we” rather than two separate individuals—they were shielded from the negative effects of jealousy. In those cases, jealousy didn’t lead to lower relationship satisfaction.

This protective factor didn’t show up for same-race couples, suggesting that a strong couple identity may be especially important in helping interracial couples navigate societal pressures and emotional challenges.

While the study offers important insights, there are some limitations. For instance, it relied on self-reported feelings, which can be biased or inaccurate.

The study, “Jealousy in Interracial and Same-Race Relationships,” was authored by Vikki Pham, Eri Sasaki, Hanieh Naeimi, and Emily A. Impett.