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The Adaptive Functions of Jealousy

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The Function of Emotions

Abstract

Jealousy is a troublesome emotional experience for those afflicted by its onset. The grip of the “green-eyed monster” has been known to cause misery and produce some drastic coping behaviors ranging from paranoid stalking to violent aggression. But rather than a product of civilized culture gone wrong or a mental disorder as some thinkers have claimed jealousy to be, the current chapter proposes from an evolutionary perspective that jealousy plays an important role in our lives by serving a critical adaptive function for humans—the vigilance over and protection of relationships that are valuable to us.

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  1. School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore

    Jose C. Yong & Norman P. Li

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  1. Jose C. Yong
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Correspondence to Jose C. Yong .

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  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

    Heather C. Lench

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Yong, J.C., Li, N.P. (2018). The Adaptive Functions of Jealousy. In: Lench, H. (eds) The Function of Emotions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77619-4_7

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