Passionate Love and Sexual Desire - Elaine Hatfield

30cuckold should fail to detect the fact and invest in the child as his own. Ifthere is a corresponding threat to a woman’s fitness . . . it is that her matewill channel resources to other women and their children. It follows thatmen’s and women’s proprietary feelings toward their mates are likely tohave evolved to be qualitatively different, men being more intenselyconcerned with sexual infidelity per se and women being more intenselyconcerned with the allocation of their mates’ resources and attentions (p.292).Scientists have also collected some sparse evidence that in men, cuckoldry andsexual infidelity incite the most jealousy, while in women, it is their husbands spendingtime talking, sharing common interests, or sharing resources with other women that ismost upsetting (Buss and Schmitt, 1993; Glass & Wright, 1985).2. How do Men and Women React to Jealous Provocations?Researchers have found that when men and women may react in somewhatdifferent ways, to jealous provocation. Israeli psychologists Nadler and Dotan (1992),for example, found that when jealous, men tend to concentrate on shoring up theirsagging self-esteem. Jealous women are more likely to try to do something tostrengthen the relationship. Bryson (1977) speculated that these gender differencesmay well be due to the fact that most societies are patriarchal. It is acceptable for mento initiate relationships. Thus, when men are threatened, they can easily go elsewhere.Women do not have the same freedom. They therefore devote their energies to keepingthe relationship from floundering. Studies in a variety of countries—including Israel