Abstract

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Brase, Caprar, & Voracek (2004, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships)
Prior research on sex differences in relationship jealousy and on reactions to third-party rivals have been conducted primarily within America, Central Europe, and Asia. As these effects do vary in magnitude across cultures, it is important to investigate both how these patterns change across a wider range of cultures and the key mediating cultural variables. 114 English and 202 Romanian participants provided their reactions to hypothetical relationship infidelity situations and to various traits that a mate rival could possess. In both samples, males were more upset than females by sexual infidelity, as compared to emotional infidelity, but this effect was much smaller for the Romanian sample. In line with evolutionary predictions, men were more upset by a rival who had better financial prospects, greater status and prestige, and was physically stronger, whereas women were more upset by a rival with a more attractive body and face. Additional, unpredicted, sex differences in the evaluation of rival traits were also found. Finally, different correlations were found (both across cultures and across sexes) between reported reactions to infidelities and to specific mate rival traits.