Is Jealousy an Evolutionary Adaptation?

“Despite its tragic impact on the modern world (the overwhelming majority of mate battering and spousal murders worldwide is caused by jealous violence), jealousy very likely emerged around 3.5 million years ago in our hominid ancestors as evolutionary adaptive response of vital evolutionary value for both genders”, according to Jorge N. Ferrer. Jealousy provided as an evolutionary adaptation for males to assure paternity and to avoid spending resources on other male’s offspring. Furthermore, females use jealousy to guarantee protection and support for her offspring by having a steady partner. This might explain why men feel intense feelings of jealousy if they suspect their partner of sexual infidelity and why women feel intense jealousy when they suspect their partner of emotional attachment with someone else. Interestingly enough, this modern analysis provides a connection between “gender- specific jealousy” and jealousy as an evolutionary adaptation.

Moreover, a new study at University Of Portsmouth challenges the scientific belief that only humans and chimpanzee are able to experience “secondary emotions” such as jealousy, shame and pride. They found that dogs demonstrate human-like jealousy when another human or animal are brought in to make a “love triangle.” Scientists found that dogs get particularly jealous when their owner showed affection to an outside party. Scientist from the University reported dogs demonstrated jealousy 80 percent of the time.

            Additionally, according to evolutionary psychology, jealousy is a genetic instinct used to enable possessiveness. This allows monogamy to become possible. Jealousy is simply a defense mechanism that might naturally occur if the joy of his or her partner were to arise because of someone else. Polygamists (those who life an alternative lifestyle where a man may have more than one spouse) commonly dismiss their natural instincts. For example, the Kerista community of San Franisco has coined the term “compersion” which is said to be a “non-sexual state of empathetic happiness and joy experienced when an individual's romantic partner experiences happiness and joy through an outside source, including, but not limited to, another romantic interest.”

Citations

Ferrer, Jorge N.. "Monogamy, Polyamory, and Beyond." Tikkun 22.1 (2007): 37-43, 60-2. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.

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