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The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is as Necessary as Love and Sex. By David M. Buss. The Free Press, New York, 2000,256 pp., $25.00.
Reviewed by Michael C Seto, Ph.D.1
This book is written for anyone interested in the psychology of jealousy, relationships, and relationship violence. It is not, however, for the faint-of-heart. Buss' main thesis is that jealousy is a Darwinian adaptation and therefore was associated with reproductive success in the past because of the potential costs of being cuckolded (for males) or abandoned (for females) in ancestral environments. As such, jealousy may be an inherent component of romantic relationships. More proximally, Buss argues that jealousy can be understood as an emotion that motivates behavior when the fidelity or commitment of one's partner appears to be threatened (see Frank, 1988). Jealousy can also be viewed as an indication of the value that the jealous person places on a relationship. In fact, Buss (1989) suggests that jealousy may sometimes be evoked to test a partner's commitment. Whatever its function, jealousy is prevalent and appears cross-culturally.
Briefly, the Darwinian logic is as follows: There is a fundamental sex difference in the minimal investment required for producing offspring, as outlined in Trivers' (1972) parental investment theory. Because of the obligate costs of gestation, human females have a greater minimal investment in offspring. As a consequence, access to the security and resources provided by a committed male partner is the main constraint to female reproductive success. At the same time, males cannot be certain about the paternity of their putative offspring, whereas females can always be confident about their maternity. As a consequence, males run the risk of investing their precious time, energy, and resources on another male's offspring rather than their own, whereas females do not run this risk. From these sex differences, one can predict that females are more affected than males by emotional infidelity, and the potential threat to their partner's commitment,...