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Overt Jealousy Research Paper

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Entering a relationship for the first time opens the doors to a flood of emotions that can take a hold of one’s life without even being aware of it. Jealousy is an emotion that I became all too familiar with throughout my relationship with an ex and continued beyond the ending of our relationship. We found ourselves taking a course together after breaking up and attempted to be friends but that would soon end once I learned he was pursuing a fellow classmate. I held on to feelings for him which made the situation worse and only heightened my jealousy. Through social media, I discovered that they were beginning to see each other outside of school which made me increasingly paranoid that they would soon begin a sexual relationship. I felt my stomach sink and the temperature in my body rose as I began to take in this information. Those emotions created a domino effect that eventually broke me down into tears and the jealousy continued to mount, Despite the awful feeling jealousy brings, it can be a very adaptive emotion that can help someone increase their reproductive …show more content…

Overt jealousy can lead to paranoia about a spouse’s fidelity. Those suspicious thoughts can drive away a spouse and therefore harm one’s chances of obtaining resources and reproducing children (Easton 2006). In my case, I was constantly worried about my ex’s thoughts on other women and whether he would find a better spouse to pass on his offspring too. I began to have paranoid thoughts about his sexual relationship with our classmate although no actual act of cheating would have occurred. Morbid jealousy can frighten away any potential mates and the paranoia can begin to affect one’s daily activities that stretch beyond their relationship. Those distractions can harm friendships, work ethics, etc. which can cause a person to become disconnected from reality which greatly risks their chances of reproductive

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