The affect sex and jealousy has on the manifestation of Intimate Partner violence attitudes and behaviours.

Abstract

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a significant issue within society for both males and females. This phenomenon has been shown to be present not just in the UK but also worldwide. There is mixed literature on the sex differences in the perpetration of IPV, with some studies suggesting symmetry in IPV perpetration, while other studies suggest a sex asymmetry in the perpetration of IPV. Jealousy has been shown to be a significant factor that influences the perpetration of IPV. Evolutionary psychology suggests that there are sex differences in how individuals experience jealousy. Males have been shown to be more distressed by sexual infidelity whereas females have been shown to be more distressed by emotional infidelity. Due to the differences that are seen in how the sexes experience jealousy it is possible that this may affect how individuals act on these jealous feelings, and how this relates to IPV perpetration. Based on this it is hypothesised that both sex and jealousy will affect the manifestation of IPV attitudes and behaviours. After 180 participants took part in the current study a two-way MANOVA was conducted. Results indicated that sexually jealous females were more sexually coercive than emotionally jealous females. The second finding was that Males condone more psychological abuse within relationsips than females. Further analysis indicated that sexually jealous males condone more psychological abuse within relationsips than sexually jealous females. Future research should focus on how jealousy from an evolutionary perspective effects the perpetration of females’s sexual coercion, and should also consider why males condone more psychological abuse wthin relationships and the role jealousy plays in this sex difference.