While men are more likely to become jealous if their partner has had a night of sex with a casual partner, a woman tends to become more jealous if her partner is emotionally involved with another. So at least it has resulted from studies conducted so far regarding the gender responses of infidelity in the couple.
Half of the participants in the study were asked how they rated the emotional and sexual betrayal as shocking to them, while the other half used a system to evaluate the scenarios.
What surprised the researchers were the strong differences between the two genders. Men were more jealous of sexual betrayal, while women were more jealous of emotional betrayal. Current status and previous experiences with betrayal did not have any major impact on the results obtained.
Men and women adapt differently to the challenges of reproduction, including betrayal, because men struggle with parental insecurities (and have to decide if they are really the fathers of their children), jealousy is a reaction to the threat of sexual betrayal.
Women, on the other hand, need to be assured of what the partner will provide for their children, and spending time and resources with other women is a greater threat than physical infidelity.
Burimi: Psychology Today
