Sex differences in jealousy: the (lack of) influence of researcher theoretical perspective

ABSTRACT

The sex difference in jealousy is an effect that has generated significant controversy in the academic literature (resulting in two meta-analyses that reached different conclusions on the presence or absence of the effect). In this study, we had a team of researchers from different theoretical perspectives use identical protocols to test whether the sex difference in jealousy would occur across many different samples (while testing whether mate value would moderate the effect). In our samples, we found the sex difference in jealousy to occur using both forced choice and continuous measures, this effect appeared in several different settings, and, we found that mate value moderated participant responses. The results are discussed in light of the controversy surrounding the presence of the effect.

KEYWORDS:

• Jealousy
• sex differences
• mate value

View correction statement:

Correction

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at osf.io/b9mnr

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible at osf.io/b9mnr

Notes

1. Please see osf.io/b9mnr for the full materials presented as part of this research along with the anonymized data collected as part of this research.