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Jealousy from sexual, emotional infidelity varied among men, women

Homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual men and women react differently to feelings of jealousy over sexual and emotional infidelity, according to researchers.

David Frederick, PhD, from the department of psychology at the Crean School of Health and Life Sciences at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and Melissa R. Fales, a PhD candidate of UCLA, asked 33,699 heterosexual men, 26,332 heterosexual women, 1,068 gay men, 520 lesbian women, 1,071 bisexual men, and 1,204 bisexual women which of the following would upset them more: if their partner was having sex with someone else (but not falling in love with them) or if their partner was falling in love with someone else (but not having sex with them).

David Frederick

“Heterosexual men really stand out from all other groups: they were the only ones who were much more likely to be most upset by sexual infidelity rather than emotional infidelity,” Frederick said in a press release. “The attitudes of gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women have been historically understudied and under theorized in psychology, particularly in regards to tests of evolutionary perspectives.”

Heterosexual men were more likely to be upset by sexual infidelity compared with heterosexual women (54% vs. 35 %), and less likely than heterosexual women to be upset by emotional infidelity (46 vs. 65 %), the researchers wrote.

However, bisexual men and women did not demonstrate significantly different feelings of jealousy over sexual infidelity (30% vs. 27%), according to data.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.