Psychology Essay: Jealousy Evocation and Romantic Relationships

This psychology essay delves into the complex dynamics of jealousy evocation within romantic relationships. It begins by examining the existing literature on the subject, highlighting the association between jealousy and relationship satisfaction, often linked to anxious and insecure attachments. The essay then explores the concept of jealousy induction, discussing the communicative tactics employed to elicit jealousy, such as discussing past relationships or engaging in ambiguous behaviors. It further examines relational maintenance, the behaviors partners use to sustain their relationships, and how these strategies relate to commitment and satisfaction. The core of the essay investigates jealousy evocation, viewing it as a relatively stable characteristic and exploring dispositional jealousy. The essay references several studies and theories to provide a comprehensive understanding of how jealousy is evoked, perceived, and managed within romantic relationships, ultimately aiming to understand the factors influencing jealousy-evoking behaviors and their impact on relationship dynamics.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
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Introduction
Jealousy evocation often seems to be irrational in case the jealousy is costly related to
the relationship partners. According to the studies, there are jealousy per se which is not
regarded for the end of evocation of jealousy. Jealousy evocation is kind of a strategy that is
indirect for the power equalization in the romantic relationships.
Literature review
Jealousy and relationship satisfaction
While investigating the relationship between jealousy and relationship satisfaction,
many of the studies have reported that jealousy in terms of romantic relationships is most of
the time associated with anxious and insecure attachments. There is also some incidents of
low self-esteem along with insecurity faced by the individuals. Dandurand & Lafontaine,
(2014) stated that there has seen some association of alcohol problems with the elevated
levels of aggression which are quite potential. Often such episodes results in intimate partner
violence. Himawan (2017) argues that all these factors end up in affecting satisfaction thus
affecting the quality of the relationship along with the commitment in the relationship. The
studies show that the variables associated with the above condition can be group under three
types including the personal variables like the sexual orientation, the hormones and others.
The next is the interpersonal variable including romantic love along with violence and
satisfaction. The third category is the sociocultural variables which includes the transcultural
comparisons, the rival features along with the social networks. Kitayama, 2016) argued in a
paper that dating violence begins from the phase of adolescence. However according to
Ledbetter, Stassen‐Ferrara, & Dowd, (2013), jealously in a relationship in generally not
affected by the personal or the interpersonal variables. However the more complex variables

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such as the socioeconomic factors have found to be linked to the cause of jealousy. Jealousy
in a romantic jealousy is often evoked by a threat or an emotion that is generated as a
behaviours in response to the threat. This is often associated in a negative way to the
satisfaction in the relationship.
Jealousy induction
To bring about the tactics of jealousy induction, communicative tactics might be
chosen in order to achieve the goals. McEwan, B. (2013) in an article showed that the tactics
for induction of jealousy often reflect the resources of tactics that are available in order to
make the partners jealous intentionally. According to Pytlak, Zerega & Houser, (2015), the
most common tactics for the induction of jealousy include factors like discussing about the
past relationships, talking about the relationships in the present, several activities like dating,
flirting or sexual contact as well as sexual contact with another. Wade & Weinstein, (2011)
was able to identify the different clusters related to the situations of jealousy evocation. Each
of this clusters present some tactical implications that involves the partners showing interest
in other partners, followed by the interacting and taking about the prior relational partner
involving certain ambiguous scenes. Some of the studies also found out that being unfaithful
or being too intimate with the rival party can elevate the feelings of jealousy.
Relational Maintenance
The behaviours that is enacted by the relational partners in order to maintain their
relationship in a specific condition or state is related to relational maintenance. Studies by
Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, (2008), evidently stated that the behaviours that are able to
function as relational maintenance. The factors involved in analysing the responses was able
to uncover the five maintenance techniques including positivity, openness, assurances, social
networks along with sharing of tasks. A number of studies have shown the presence of the

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five maintenance strategies that are consistent with the strong predictors including
satisfaction, commitment and mutuality control. Most of the studies was perceived to be
based on the activities of maintenance that is directed towards expectations. Another study by
Himawan, (2017) argued that the theory of interdependence was able to explain maintenance.
There are significant evidences available that act as link between satisfaction and the
maintenance of use strategy.
Jealousy evocation
The assumptions with which jealousy is viewed from the point of view of the person
that exists in a relative stable characteristic where the individuals are related to the situations
related to the perceiving and the situations of jealousy evoking. In a similar given situation, it
is expected of the individuals that there is a need to react in a different way since there are
differences in the characteristics of the personality that often lead to perceiving of the
situation in addition to the personality characteristics (Ledbetter, Stassen‐Ferrara & Dowd,
2013). The differences that are present regarding prosperity of individuals is most of the time
termed by most researchers as being dispositional jealousy. According to the dispositional
jealousy, an individual always manages to display the same amount emotions in most of the
situations that are jealousy evoking in nature. It also does not assume the group of people
who react with the same emotional mindset in a similar situation (Wade & Weinstein, 2011).
The studies related also imply that there is existence of some emotions in the same situation
and that the degree of reactions across a wide degree of situations which are correlated. In
addition to this, the concerned view is able to imply that the aggregation present across the
multiple situational criteria that will be able to yield a reliable and valid index for the person.

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References
Dandurand, C., & Lafontaine, M. F. (2014). Jealousy and couple satisfaction: A romantic
attachment perspective. Marriage & Family Review, 50(2), 154-173.
Himawan, K. K. (2017). Jealousy and relationship satisfaction among I ndonesian dating
adults. PsyCh journal, 6(4), 328-329.
Kitayama, O. (2016). Becoming a psychoanalyst: To think about the nature of
jealousy. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 36(2), 162-170.
Ledbetter, A. M., Stassen‐Ferrara, H. M., & Dowd, M. M. (2013). Comparing equity and
self‐expansion theory approaches to relational maintenance. Personal
Relationships, 20(1), 38-51.
McEwan, B. (2013). Sharing, caring, and surveilling: An actor–partner interdependence
model examination of Facebook relational maintenance strategies. Cyberpsychology,
Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(12), 863-869.
Pytlak, M. A., Zerega, L. M., & Houser, M. L. (2015). Jealousy evocation: Understanding
commitment, satisfaction, and uncertainty as predictors of jealousy-evoking
behaviors. Communication Quarterly, 63(3), 310-328.

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Wade, T. J., & Weinstein, A. B. (2011). Jealousy induction: Which tactics are perceived as
most effective?. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 5(4), 231.
Weigel, D. J., & Ballard-Reisch, D. S. (2008). Relational maintenance, satisfaction, and
commitment in marriages: An actor-partner analysis. Journal of Family
Communication, 8(3), 212-229.