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Jealousy is defined by Daly, Wilson & Weghorst (1982) as a “state that is aroused by a perceived threat to a valued relationship or position and motivates behaviour aimed at countering the threat”. There is empirical support to suggest that there is sexual differentiation in responses to scenario’s which elicit jealous reactions (Pietrzak, Laird, Stevens & Thompson, 2002). In a study conducted at the Australian National University in 2000, more men than women endorsed sexual infidelity as most distressing. The type of infidelity found more distressing to males and females is explained and justified by the evolutionary hypothesis (EH). It suggests that sex differences have their origins in the evolutionary process and are to be found universally (Buss, Larsen & Westen, 1996). Conversely the double-shot hypothesis (DS) suggests that men and women select the more distressing type of infidelity they think implies the occurrence of the other. Finally proponents of each hypothesis point to results and methodological deficiencies of the other hypothesis to undermine its claims. Although both hypotheses have reason to be believed the latter seems to be displaced by the amount of compelling evidence which suggests that sex differences have their origins in an evolutionary process that results in the different reactions to infidelity shown by men and women. Historically there have been double standards in society, where societies such as those present in the Far East permitted a husband to take revenge on the perpetrators who adulterated his wife. Although such allowances are generally redundant in the vast majority of societies today, jealousy still remains a paramount social issue (Daly et al, 1982). From an evolutionary point of view it has been thought that when a man loses the control of the females reproductive capacity, he loses ground to other men. Men who were most frustrated of being unable to control the wife, often accused her of being a whore even when she innocently left the house. Such accusations and consequent denials by the wife may have ultimately culminated in violence. Wilt’s study (1974, cited in Daly et al, 1982) shows jealousy to be the most frequent substantive issue in social conflict homicides. Jealousy has also assumed global proportions, where in England and Wales jealousy it has ranked third behind “quarrels and robbery”. As such, jealousy especially within males can elicit feelings of anger and rage. A study conducted by Pietrzak et al (2002) found that men reported a significantly stronger experience of anger, rage and betrayal while imagining sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity. Such results point to situational differentiation i.e. which type of infidelity troubles someone the most and response differentiation, i.e. how one would respond to a situation of sexual infidelity etc. Evolutionary psychologists propose an evolutionary hypothesis to justify and explain such findings. At the heart of the evolutionary hypothesis is the assumption that sex differences in the elicitors of jealousy arise as a consequence of the fitness-enhancing abilities of men and women (Buss, Larsen, Westen & Semmelroth, 1992). Fitness refers to the ability of raising offspring to sexual maturity (Daly et al, 1982). Thus when fitness is compromised through infidelity, sexual infidelity is more troublesome for a male than emotional infidelity. For males compromise in paternal probability comes at a cost, where mating effort including time and nuptial gifts are lost.
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