Editing Jealousy (section)

=== Scientific examples ===

[[File:László Moholy-Nagy, gelosia, 1927, fotomontaggio (george eastman museum, rochester NY).jpg|thumb|upright|''Jealousy'' (1927), [[László Moholy-Nagy]]]]

People do not express jealousy through a single emotion or a single behavior.<ref name="Darwin,1872">Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals.</ref><ref name="Clanton, Smith">Clanton, G. & Smith, L. (1977) Jealousy. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc.</ref><ref name="Buunk,1984">Bram Buunk, B. (1984). Jealousy as related to attributions for the partner's behavior. [[Social psychology|Social Psychology]] Quarterly, 47, 107–112.</ref>
They instead express jealousy through diverse emotions and behaviors, which makes it difficult to form a scientific definition of jealousy. Scientists instead define it in their own words, as illustrated by the following examples:
<blockquote>

* "Romantic jealousy is here defined as a complex of thoughts, feelings, and actions which follow threats to [[self-esteem]] and/or threats to the existence or quality of the relationship, when those threats are generated by the perception of potential attraction between one's partner and a (perhaps imaginary) rival."<ref name="White,1981">{{cite journal | last1 = White | first1 = G.L. | year = 1981 | title = Jealousy and partner's perceived motives for attraction to a rival | journal = Social Psychology Quarterly | volume = 44 | issue = 1| pages = 24–30 | doi=10.2307/3033859| jstor = 3033859 }}</ref>

</blockquote>
<blockquote>

* "Jealousy, then, is any aversive reaction that occurs as the result of a partner's extradyadic relationship that is considered likely to occur."<ref name="Bringle, Buunk">Bringle, R.G. & Buunk, B.P. (1991). Extradyadic relationships and [[sexual jealousy]].  In K. McKinney and S. Sprecher (Eds.), Sexuality in Close Relationships (pp. 135–153) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</ref>

</blockquote>
<blockquote>

* "Jealousy is conceptualized as a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to a relationship threat. In the case of sexual jealousy, this threat emanates from knowing or suspecting that one's partner has had (or desires to have) [[Human sexual behavior|sexual activity]] with a third party. In the case of emotional jealousy, an individual feels threatened by her or his partner's emotional involvement with and/or love for a third party."<ref name="Guerrero, Spitzberg, Yoshimura,2004">Guerrero, L.K., Spitzberg, B.H., & Yoshimura, S.M. (2004).  Sexual and Emotional Jealousy.  In J.H. Harvey, S. Sprecher, and A. Wenzel (Eds.), The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships (pp. 311–345). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</ref>

</blockquote>
<blockquote>

* "Jealousy is defined as a defensive reaction to a perceived threat to a valued relationship, arising from a situation in which the partner's involvement with an activity and/or another person is contrary to the jealous person's definition of their relationship."<ref name="Bevan,2004">{{cite journal | last1 = Bevan | first1 = J.L. | year = 2004 | title = General partner and relational uncertainty as consequences of another person's jealousy expression | journal = Western Journal of Communication | volume = 68 | issue = 2| pages = 195–218 | doi=10.1080/10570310409374796| s2cid = 152205568 }}</ref>

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<blockquote>

* "Jealousy is triggered by the threat of separation from, or loss of, a romantic partner, when that threat is attributed to the possibility of the partner's romantic interest in another person."<ref name="Sharpsteen, Kirkpatrick">{{cite journal | last1 = Sharpsteen | first1 = D.J. | last2 = Kirkpatrick | first2 = L.A. | year = 1997 | title = Romantic jealousy and adult romantic attachment | journal = [[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] | volume = 72 | issue = 3| pages = 627–640 | doi=10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.627| pmid = 9120787 }}</ref>

</blockquote>
These definitions of jealousy share two basic themes. First, all the definitions imply a triad composed of a jealous individual, a partner, and a perception of a third party or rival. Second, all the definitions describe jealousy as a reaction to a perceived threat to the relationship between two people, or a dyad. Jealous reactions typically involve aversive emotions and/or behaviors that are assumed to be protective for their attachment relationships. These themes form the essential meaning of jealousy in most scientific studies.

==== Comparison with envy ====

Popular culture uses the word jealousy as a synonym for [[envy]]. Many dictionary definitions include a reference to envy or envious feelings. In fact, the overlapping use of jealousy and envy has a long history.
<blockquote>
The terms are used indiscriminately in such popular 'feel-good' books as Nancy Friday's ''Jealousy'', where the expression 'jealousy' applies to a broad range of passions, from envy to lust and greed. While this kind of usage blurs the boundaries between categories that are intellectually valuable and psychologically justifiable, such confusion is understandable in that historical explorations of the term indicate that these boundaries have long posed problems. Margot Grzywacz's fascinating etymological survey of the word in Romance and [[Germanic languages]]<ref>Margot Grzywacz, "Eifersucht" in den romanischen Sprachen (Bochum-Langendreer, Germany: H. Pöppinghaus, 1937), p. 4</ref> asserts, indeed, that the concept was one of those that proved to be the most difficult to express in language and was therefore among the last to find an unambiguous term. [[Classical Latin]] used ''invidia'', without strictly differentiating between envy and jealousy. It was not until the postclassical era that Latin borrowed the late and poetic Greek word ''zelotypia'' and the associated adjective ''zelosus''. It is from this adjective that are derived French ''jaloux'', Provençal ''gelos'', Italian ''geloso'', Spanish ''celoso'', and Portuguese ''cioso''.<ref name="Lloyd">Lloyd, R. (1995). Closer & Closer Apart: Jealousy in Literature. Ithaca, NY: [[Cornell University|Cornell University Press]].</ref>
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Perhaps the overlapping use of jealousy and envy occurs because people can experience both at the same time. A person may envy the characteristics or possessions of someone who also happens to be a romantic rival.<ref name="Parrot, Smith">{{cite journal|last1=Parrot|first1=W.G.|last2=Smith|first2=R.H.|year=1993|title=Distinguishing the experiences of envy and jealousy|journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]]|volume=64|issue=6|pages=906–920|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.64.6.906|pmid=8326472|s2cid=24219423}}</ref> In fact, one may even interpret romantic jealousy as a form of envy.<ref name="Kristjansson,2002">Kristjansson, K. (2002). Justifying Emotions: Pride and Jealousy.</ref> A jealous person may envy the affection that their partner gives to a rival – affection the jealous person feels entitled to themselves. People often use the word jealousy as a broad label that applies to both experiences of jealousy and experiences of envy.<ref name="Smith, Kim, Parrott">{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=R.H.|last2=Kim|first2=S.H.|last3=Parrott|first3=W.G.|year=1988|title=Envy and jealousy: Semantic problems and experiential distinctions|journal=[[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]]|volume=14|issue=2|pages=401–409|doi=10.1177/0146167288142017|pmid=30045477|s2cid=51720365}}</ref>

Although popular culture often uses jealousy and envy as synonyms, modern philosophers and psychologists have argued for conceptual distinctions between jealousy and envy. For example, philosopher [[John Rawls]]<ref name="Rawls">Rawls, J. (1971). [[A Theory of Justice]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press|Belknap Press]] of Harvard University Press.</ref> distinguishes between jealousy and envy on the ground that jealousy involves the wish to keep what one has, and envy the wish to get what one does not have. Thus, a child is jealous of her parents' attention to a sibling, but envious of her friend's new bicycle. Psychologists Laura Guerrero and Peter Andersen have proposed the same distinction.<ref name="Guerrero, Andersen">Guerrero, L.K., & Andersen, P.A. (1998). The dark side of jealousy and envy: desire, delusion, desperation, and destructive communication. In W.R. Cupach and B.H. Spitzberg (Eds.), The Dark Side of Close Relationships, (pp. ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</ref> They claim the jealous person "perceives that he or she possesses a valued relationship, but is in danger of losing it or at least of having it altered in an undesirable manner," whereas the envious person "does not possess a valued commodity, but wishes to possess it." Gerrod Parrott draws attention to the distinct thoughts and feelings that occur in jealousy and envy.<ref name="Parrot 92">Parrott, W.G. (1992). The emotional experiences of envy and jealousy. In [[Peter Salovey|P. Salovey]] (Ed.), The Psychology of Jealousy and Envy (pp. 3–29). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.</ref><ref name="Staff">{{Citation|last=Staff|first=P.T.|title=A devastating difference|date=Jan–Feb 1994|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19940101-000017.html|journal=Psychology Today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427112226/http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19940101-000017.html|url-status=dead|id=Document ID 1544|access-date=8 July 2006|archive-date=27 April 2006}}</ref>

The common experience of '''jealousy''' for many people may involve:

:* Fear of loss
:* Suspicion of or anger about a perceived betrayal
:* Low self-esteem and sadness over perceived loss
:* Uncertainty and loneliness
:* Fear of losing an important person to another
:* Distrust

The experience of '''envy''' involves:

:* Feelings of inferiority
:* Longing
:* Resentment of circumstances
:* Ill will towards envied person often accompanied by guilt about these feelings
:* Motivation to improve
:* Desire to possess the attractive rival's qualities
:* Disapproval of feelings
:* Sadness towards other's accomplishments

Parrott acknowledges that people can experience envy and jealousy at the same time. Feelings of envy about a rival can even intensify the experience of jealousy.<ref name="Pines, Aronson,1983">{{cite journal|last1=Pines|first1=A.|last2=Aronson|first2=E.|year=1983|title=Antecedents, correlates, and consequences of sexual jealousy|journal=Journal of Personality|volume=51|pages=108–136|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1983.tb00857.x}}</ref> Still, the differences between envy and jealousy in terms of thoughts and feelings justify their distinction in philosophy and science.