The current research aimed to shed light on why people differ in romantic jealousy. Our findings suggest that people differ in jealousy partly because of genetic influences, but mostly because of nonshared environmental influences.
Jealousy is a natural reaction…
Just like it's natural to feel fear when we're threatened or angry when an injustice has been committed, it's natural to feel jealous sometimes too. While jealousy is natural in the sense of being normal, it's also natural in that it's useful—or at least trying to be.
Only one third of the variation in jealousy seemed to have a genetic origin, so the rest must have been down to environmental differences. But whether genetic or environmental, hard-wired or learned, there's no doubting the ubiquity of jealousy.
Jealousy is often rooted in insecurities and fears that a person may not even realize they have. These could include fear of oversimplification, fear of inadequacy, fear of abandonment, fear of being replaced, and fear of being judged.
The cause usually lies in childhood
Many of the highly jealous people have experienced attachments as insecure in their childhood. Even as adults, they constantly fear being abandoned.
Past trauma
If you've experienced emotional abuse or betrayal from past relationships, that can start to taint your view of future relationships if the trauma goes unchecked. This is where jealousy can rear its head and feed into those feelings, by making you feel anxious or afraid of losing the person you're with now.
Past studies have shown that jealousy peaks in adolescence.
There is not one root cause for someone's jealous behaviors or feelings, but there are a few reasons why someone might feel this way, including insecurity, past history, or fear of loss.
Pathological jealousy, also known as morbid jealousy, Othello syndrome or delusional jealousy, is a psychological disorder in which a person is preoccupied with the thought that their spouse or sexual partner is being unfaithful without having any real proof, along with socially unacceptable or abnormal behaviour ...
Jealous delusions result from a mental health condition called delusional jealousy, which itself has connections to other mental conditions, like schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.
While jealousy can be a sign of insecurity, this isn't always the case. A variety of situations can also cause insecurity.
Summary: Jealousy increases activity in the cingulate cortex and lateral septum, areas of the brain associated with social pain and pair bonding, researchers report.
If you're the target of jealousy, you may feel like someone (usually a partner or friend) is trying to control your life. They might do things such as check up on you, try to tell you what to do (or not do) and how to act, or limit your contact with friends and coworkers.
Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust.
Jealousy is a prominent feature for those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder (NPD and BPD).
It's also a symptom of mental health conditions and commonly occurs in the presence of bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and other personality disorders.
Jealousy is a normal human emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. It often stems from romantic relationships and can be feelings of unhappiness, anxiety, and anger caused by a belief or fear that your partner may be unfaithful or interested in someone else.
Feeling jealous is a signal that someone else might be putting a relationship you have and rely on at risk — and you may need to do something about it to either save that relationship or find what you're getting out of that relationship somewhere else. “Jealousy is hard-wired in all of us,” Jalal says.
Jealousy and envy are a toxic combination of anger, insecurity, fear, and greed. Jealousy is related to desiring what others have and envy centers around resentment of other people's blessings and prosperity.
Significant main effects of age were found for jealousy, which decreased with age. Support, negative interactions, and control did not change with age.
In “The Age of Envy,” Ayn Rand defined envy as “hatred of the good for being the good.” Hers is an important definition, because it gets to the core of envy's pernicious nature. What is Envy? Rand recognized that the term “envy” is variously applied to different things.
Envy develops when individuals compare themselves to others and find themselves to be inferior. This process is a natural one, although comparing the self with others may lead to the development of envy and other emotions that can cause pain.
Sometimes, pervasive jealous feelings might be an indicator of a deeper issue related to your mental health, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here are other mental health concerns that could be related to jealousy: Depression. Anxiety.