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Morbid jealousy from an evolutionary psychological perspective

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Date Issued:
2006
Summary:
Individuals diagnosed with morbid jealousy have hypersensitive jealousy mechanisms that cause them to have irrational thoughts about their partners and to exhibit extreme behaviors. Because morbid jealousy is defined as a malfunction of evolved jealousy mechanisms such that they produce increased chances of perceiving partner infidelity, research guided by an evolutionary psychological perspective can add insight to the understanding of the disorder. The present research tested eleven evolutionarily relevant hypotheses about jealousy, in an attempt to improve the understanding of the etiology of morbid jealousy. To investigate a large enough sample, I created a database of all the morbid jealousy case histories published in English. Chi-square analyses were used to test all eleven hypotheses. Results for seven hypotheses were significant. By illustrating that there may be an adaptive purpose for some of the associated behaviors and for jealousy, the results of this study can aid clinicians in treating morbid jealousy.
Title: Morbid jealousy from an evolutionary psychological perspective.
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Name(s): Easton, Judith A.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Shackelford, Todd K., Thesis Advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2006
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 93 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Individuals diagnosed with morbid jealousy have hypersensitive jealousy mechanisms that cause them to have irrational thoughts about their partners and to exhibit extreme behaviors. Because morbid jealousy is defined as a malfunction of evolved jealousy mechanisms such that they produce increased chances of perceiving partner infidelity, research guided by an evolutionary psychological perspective can add insight to the understanding of the disorder. The present research tested eleven evolutionarily relevant hypotheses about jealousy, in an attempt to improve the understanding of the etiology of morbid jealousy. To investigate a large enough sample, I created a database of all the morbid jealousy case histories published in English. Chi-square analyses were used to test all eleven hypotheses. Results for seven hypotheses were significant. By illustrating that there may be an adaptive purpose for some of the associated behaviors and for jealousy, the results of this study can aid clinicians in treating morbid jealousy.
Identifier: 9780542745850 (isbn), 13376 (digitool), FADT13376 (IID), fau:10226 (fedora)
Note(s): Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2006.
Subject(s): Jealousy--Case studies
Psychology, Pathological
Rational emotive behavior therapy--Case studies
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13376
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.