{"title":"The influence of a rival’s (in)fertility on jealousy and the allocation of blame following a mate’s infidelity","authors":"M. Fisher, Laura Robertson, H. Dillon","doi":"10.5964/ijpr.v12i2.291","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Selective pressures throughout evolutionary history have caused the adaptation of sex-specific responses to dilemmas that are relevant for reproductive fitness. Sex differences in imagined jealousy due to infidelity are well documented, but past work does not consider the influence of reproductive capability (i.e., being fertile versus infertile) on responses. Relying on an online survey of 369 adults, we hypothesized that infidelities involving an infertile interloper lead to less jealousy than infidelities involving a fertile interloper. Further, for sexual infidelity, regardless of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men would allocate the most responsibility to their partner and women would do so for the interloper, given women are assumed to behave with more intention. This hypothesis was partially supported; while men did allocate the most responsibility to their mate, so too did women, but women also blamed the interloper more than men. With regards to emotional infidelity, again independent of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men will primarily hold their partner responsible. However, we hypothesized that women will again consider the interloper responsible, but also their partner, due to concerns over fear of losing access to needed resources. This prediction was partially supported, as both sexes primarily hold their partner most responsible, and women held the interloper more accountable than did men. The findings shed light onto how individuals assess relationship threats and allocate responsibility, according to reproductive capability.","PeriodicalId":37776,"journal":{"name":"Interpersona","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Interpersona","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5964/ijpr.v12i2.291","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Selective pressures throughout evolutionary history have caused the adaptation of sex-specific responses to dilemmas that are relevant for reproductive fitness. Sex differences in imagined jealousy due to infidelity are well documented, but past work does not consider the influence of reproductive capability (i.e., being fertile versus infertile) on responses. Relying on an online survey of 369 adults, we hypothesized that infidelities involving an infertile interloper lead to less jealousy than infidelities involving a fertile interloper. Further, for sexual infidelity, regardless of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men would allocate the most responsibility to their partner and women would do so for the interloper, given women are assumed to behave with more intention. This hypothesis was partially supported; while men did allocate the most responsibility to their mate, so too did women, but women also blamed the interloper more than men. With regards to emotional infidelity, again independent of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men will primarily hold their partner responsible. However, we hypothesized that women will again consider the interloper responsible, but also their partner, due to concerns over fear of losing access to needed resources. This prediction was partially supported, as both sexes primarily hold their partner most responsible, and women held the interloper more accountable than did men. The findings shed light onto how individuals assess relationship threats and allocate responsibility, according to reproductive capability.
期刊介绍:
1) Interpersona aims at promoting scholarship in the field of interpersonal relationships based on different methodologies and stemming from several disciplines, including Psychology, Family Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Studies, Economics, Management Science, Biology, Health Sciences, History, and others. Interpersona aims at contributing to the collective construction of an Interpersonal Relationship Science. 2) Manuscripts examining a wide range of relationships, including close or intimate relationships and weak or temporary ties, are welcome. Some examples are indicated below: Biology - Biological foundations of human relationships: physiological and neurobiological phenomena related to interpersonal interactions. The evolutionary foundations of interpersonal relationships including comparative and animal studies of social interactions. Psychology and Family Studies: close or intimate relations including romantic relationships, family relationships and friendship. Family relationships encompass spouses, parents and children, siblings, and other relations among nuclear and extended family members.[...] 3) In addition to original empirical (qualitative or quantitative) research, theoretical or methodological contributions, integrative reviews, meta-analyses, comparative or historical studies, and critical assessments of the status of the field are welcome as submissions. 4) Interpersona is a totally free access journal and readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles without any charge. All papers are peer-reviewed by members of the editorial board or ad-hoc reviewers under the supervision of an editor. [...] 5) All Interpersona content is available in full text with no charge. All submitted papers are reviewed by at least two referees before being accepted for publication.