Jealousy and Infidelity

Jealousy and Infidelity

1. AO1

   • Aggressive behaviour is used to contribute to increasing survival chances and enhancing reproductive potential. These men fear infidelity from their partners and this causes them to act in a highly jealous manor.
     • A key source of male aggression is parental uncertainty - due to the fact that men can never be 100% sure that the child is theirs
     • Issue of cuckoldry and investing resources in offspring which is not passing on his genes
     • Many male partners have strategies to keep their mates/ensure that their genes are passed on including negative inducements, uxoricide (murder of wife), sexual coercion or partner rape.
     • Males become jealous and this leads to them acting aggressively to attempt to stop their partner harming his potential for successful reproduction

2. AO2

   • Camilleri (2004) found that a woman was more likely to be a victim of sexual violence if her partner percieved her as potentially unfaithful. This suggests that when faced with potential uncertainty over paternity, men may resort to violence to ensure their genetic success.
     • Shields and Hanneke (1983) interviewed a group of women and found that 46% of them had experienced marital rape and this highlights the extent of male acts of aggression on their partners. Due to feelings of jealoisy and fear of infidelity, a male would rape his partner to express their aggression and use scare tactics to ensure her faithfulness as well as ensuring parental certainty. This showed how men act aggressively towards their partners when they believe their possibility of successful reproduction is being harmed.
   • Takaheshi et al (2006) showed males and females scenes depicting infidelity in partners and found a difference in responses for men and women. It was found that males showed a greater increase in activity than females in the amygdala and hypothalmus which are two areas associated with aggression. This showed how men and women react differently to jealousy and infidelity and concluded how men were more likely to resort to aggression if they believed their partner may be being unfaithful.
   • Shakelford et al (2005) completed a survey of US adults and found a correlation between women's reports of their male partners mate retention strategies and levels of violence and this same correlation was found when men were asked to rate themselves. This shows how men are more likely to act aggressively to prevent their partners from being with another male, highlighting the fear of cuckoldry and wasted resources amongst males.
   • Dobash and Dobash (1984) found that in interviews, most battered women will cite jealousy as the main cause of their partner's violence. This shows how mena re more likely to inflict aggression and violence on their partners and this is commonly due to him becoming jealous or fearing her unfaithfulness.

3. Real life application to ensure the safety of women who may be at risk of violence. Education and awareness programmes are able not only to identify potential victims of future violence but also to educate women about the signs of possible violence. As a result, the number of domestic abuse cases could be reduced and this provides a useful outlet for the information gained from the theory.

4. However, this theory is limited as it does not explain females violence towards male partners. In an evolutionary environment, violence from a female towards a male would be a risky choice; as males tend to be stronger and in term of reproduction a women has potentially far more to lose than males in a physically aggressive encounter. Therefore if the theory was wholly correct. there should never be any incidences of female aggression towards male partners, which is not the case. Consequently. there must be factors other than innate drives influencing physical violence towards partners.