Is Jealousy a Complex Emotion?

Hobson, R. Peter

doi:10.1002/9781444323542.ch13

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…In the present study, the term “ jealousy protest ” is used to refer to the constellation of affective and behavioral responses that infants display in contexts where a caregiver's attention is directed preferentially toward a rival (Hart, ,b, ). While theorists grapple with this interpretation (Campos, Walle & Dahl, ; Draghi‐Lorenz et al., ; Hobson, ; Panksepp, ), it is clear that infants are perturbed by exposure to DT, which calls for investigative attention to the nature of these perturbations. Toward that end, the present study turned investigative attention to the manner in which infants recover from exposure to DT.…”

Section: Emotion Regulation In Response To Other Challenging Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulation of Jealousy Protest in the Context of Reunion Following Differential Treatment

Hart

Behrens

2013

Infancy

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Emotion regulation strategies and variation in their presentation were explored toward understanding infants' responses during reunion with mother (Re) following baseline mother-infant interaction (Bl) and differential treatment (DT) episodes. Correlation analyses revealed cohesion among distress and mother-directed touch and proximity-seeking during DT and Re, motherdirected gaze during DT, and resistance during Re. The association between mother-directed gaze during DT and distress during Re suggests that visual inattention during DT serves as a regulatory strategy. Overall, these linkages yield expanded understanding of jealousy protest as a constellation of responses that endures beyond the eliciting condition and includes regulatory behaviors. Cross-context comparisons revealed that distress was lower during Re than during DT, but not as low as Bl, suggesting that DT poses challenge to interactive repair. Inquiry into individual variation revealed that distress during Re was augmented in laterborn males and with risk influences of dysregulated fear, and maternal insensitivity and hostility. Conversely, maternal depression was associated with less distress; later judgment as insecure, especially insecure-avoidance, was associated with less mother-directed behaviors. These findings suggest that dysregulation following DT is indicated by both resistance and passivity. In sum, the results highlight emotion regulation as a powerful framework for addressing recovery following DT.

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Section: Emotion Regulation In Response To Other Challenging Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulation of Jealousy Protest in the Context of Reunion Following Differential Treatment

Hart

Behrens

2013

Infancy

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“…fear, anger, sadness) and accompanied by overt behaviors directed at restoring the relationship by reducing the threat represented by the interloper and regaining attention and care from a significant social partner [ 14 , 15 ]. It has been proposed that jealousy could also occur outside conscious awareness [ 9 , 16 ], without the need of cortically mediated cognition [ 13 ] and in the absence of complex interpretations of the meaning of the social interaction [ 17 ]. Thus, at least a primordial form of jealousy could arise in other animals in specific situations where a significant relationship is threatened.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pet dogs’ behavior when the owner and an unfamiliar person attend to a faux rival

et al. 2018

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While dog owners ascribe different emotions to their pets, including jealousy, research on secondary emotions in nonhuman animals is very limited and, so far, only one study has investigated jealousy in dogs (Canis familiaris). This work explores jealousy in dogs one step further. We conducted two studies adapting a procedure devised to assess jealousy in human infants. In each study 36 adult dogs were exposed to a situation in which their owner and a stranger ignored them while directing positive attention towards three different objects: a book, a puppet and a fake dog (Study 1: furry; Study 2: plastic). Overall, the results of both studies do not provide evidence that the behavioral responses of our dogs were triggered by jealousy: we did not find a clear indication that the fake dogs were perceived as real social rivals, neither the furry nor the plastic one. Indeed, dogs exhibited a higher interest (i.e. look at, interact with) towards the fake dogs, but differences in the behavior towards the fake dog and the puppet only emerged in Study 2. In addition, many of the behaviors (protest, stress, attention seeking, aggression) that are considered distinctive features of jealousy were not expressed or were expressed to a limited extent, revealing that dogs did not actively try to regain their owner’s attention or interfere with the interaction between the owner and the faux rival. Finally, a differentiated response towards the attachment figure (the owner) and the unfamiliar person (the stranger) did not emerge. Differently from what reported in human infants, dogs’ behavior towards the attachment figure and the stranger interacting with the potential competitor (in this case, the fake dog) did not significantly differ: in both studies dogs paid attention to the owner and the stranger manipulating the fake dog to the same extent. In conclusion, we do not exclude that dogs could possess a rudimentary form of jealousy, but we suggest that research on this topic should require the use of a real social interloper (conspecific or human) and more naturalistic procedures.

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“…In this case it is one that evolved due to the adaptive value of jealousy in infants when parental resources are diverted toward other offspring (Bjorklund and Pellegrini 2002;Hamilton 1964;Hart 2010b;Trivers 1974). In addition to finding that infants, including those with minimal exposure to differential treatment such as firstborn children and infants as young as 6 months, are sensitive to jealousy inducement, the universality of jealousy across cultures and species point to an unlearned mechanism that exists due to its adaptive value (Burchell and Ward 2011;Campos et al 2010;Darwin 1877;Hart 2010b;Harris and Prouvost 2014;Hobson 2010;Hupka 1991;Shamay-Tsoory et al 2014). The universality and adaptiveness of sexual jealousy have been so well established that some (Buss 2013;Sabini and Silver 2005) have argued that these factors alone constitute sufficient grounds for considering sexual jealousy a basic emotion, to be included among other early-emerging emotions, such as anger and sadness, even though it does not coincide with a distinctive facial expression.…”

Section: A Theory Of Jealousy As Temperamentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, Hobson (2010) has espoused the view that there may be forms of interpersonal awareness that are not essential to early jealousy. These views are compatible with minimal cognition affect theories which posit that survival is enhanced by reactive systems that involve minimal cognition or intention (Frijda 2010;LeDoux 1989;Zajonc 1980), and arguments against over-reliance on facial expressions for inferring emotionality (Sabini and Silver 2005).…”

Section: A Theory Of Jealousy As Temperamentmentioning

confidence: 99%