Competitor derogation in romantic jealousy and friendship rivalry.

Abstract

The present study tested whether different psychological mechanisms are defending threats to romantic relationships and close same-sex friendships. Depending on condition, the participants first read a scenario that introduced a competitor threatening either a romantic relationship or a close same-sex friendship. Subsequently, the participants rated the competitor with respect to twelve characteristics. Four each of these characteristics referred to dimensions particularly relevant for female romantic, male romantic and friendship competitor derogation. Ratings were made on scales allowing for a derogatory, neutral or favourable portrayal of the competitor. The results showed competitor derogation in the romantic but not in the friendship condition across all characteristics. Overall, men more than women in the romantic condition tended to provide more derogatory competitor ratings. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Friendship jealousy: One tool for maintaining friendships in the face of third-party threats?

“…There are likely to be multiple outputs of friendship jealousy, with friend guarding being just one. Our preliminary investigation suggests further exploration of friend guarding is warranted (see Schützwohl, Joshi, & Abdur-Razak, 2019). Indeed, research on romantic jealousy spurred myriad papers on mate guarding, and we would hope to see future work explore the nuances of friend guarding.…”