Evaluation

Evaluation

Strengths
I got an even mix of males and females so the results weren’t relevant to just males or just females.
The data I got was qualitative so it could explain why I got the results I did but it was not supported by factual information.
All participants gave their consent to take part and were debriefed so were not harmed during the experiment.

Weaknesses
· The sample was reasonably small so can only be generalised to Wellsway 6th form.
· The questionnaires were carried out in different environments so experiment was not standardised.
· The results may include social desirability bias because the participants may not have been completely truthful in their answers.
· The topic of research was very broad and I didn’t narrow it down enough so I didn’t get results for anything specific.

Conclusions

Conclusions

• Jealousy occurs extremely often, even over very small things.
• Jealousy can be responded to in eight different ways, as identified by Bryson.
• The 3 strategies that Buunk identified as ways of coping with extra marital relationships can be applied to other forms of jealousy.
• Participants said the best way of coping with jealousy is communication or analysing the situation.
• There are many different forms of jealousy, but ultimately it’s because someone else seems better than you, whether of possessions, personality or looks.
• Jealousy is connected with negative emotional feelings and generally the person feeling jealous feels like what they have isn’t good enough.
• Jealousy occurs within most relationships and generally more between people with less trust. This can occur for many different reasons.
• The main reason for people feeling jealous in a relationship is because they feel their partner is becoming too close with someone of the opposite sex.
• The most common way of dealing with this is to talk about it, however, a substantial number of participants will ignore it and not do anything.

Analysis: Dealing With Jealousy

13) How do you think you would deal with this?

The most common way of dealing with jealousy in a relationship is to talk to the partner; this is agreed amongst males and females. This is because talking is likely sort out any confusion that may have occurred, talking means the thoughts will be said aloud. When said aloud, thoughts generally make more sense as they are put into logical sentences.

Interestingly, quite a few males said that they would ignore it and do nothing but only one female. Quite a few females said that they wouldn’t do anything about it unless it gets worse. This shows a clear divide between the reactions both sexes show as females are more likely to actively do something about it.

Analysis: Jealousy Factors

12) If in a relationship, what would make you jealous of your partner?

As shown very clearly in the pie charts, the most common thing that would make someone jealous of their partner is their partner being 'close to someone of the opposite sex'. This includes texting, meeting, and even chatting someone of the opposite sex a lot. There is a difference between males and females in that males have said that they get jealous of their partners possessions and their partners money, however females have said that they get jealous of their partner being close to someone of the opposite sex and their partners oppertunities.

Analysis: Causes Of Jealousy Within Relationships

11) Why do you think jealousy occurs/what do you think is the cause of jealousy in relationships?

There are many causes of jealousy in relationships, according to my questionnaire, the most common one is lack of confidence. This includes feeling you’re not good enough for your partner, not attractive enough, not seeing why their partner wants to be with them etc. This comes from a feeling of insecurity and could mean that they are jealous that their partner is more confident or popular or attractive than them. It also means being jealous that someone ‘better’ might come along and take their partner away because they are better suited. This answer was more common amongst females. Another huge cause of jealousy in relationships is someone’s partner being close to or paying attention of someone of the opposite sex.

Analysis: Jealousy Within Relationships

9) Do you think jealousy occurs in most, if not all relationships?

Results
Yes – 12
No – 8

Interestingly, out of the people than said no, 6 of them were male.

10) Do you think jealousy occurs more in a relationship between people with less trust?

Results
Yes – 16
No – 4


Analysis
There is a mixture of feelings about jealousy within relationships. This may be due to personal experiences or individual differences. However, 60% of participants said that they thought jealousy happens in most or all relationships, and even though 40% of people said that thought that jealousy does not occur within relationships, they still went on to identify things that would make them feel jealous of a partner, which shows conflicting results. From this, I believe that jealousy is an inevitable part of life and part of relationships.

80% of participants said that they thing jealousy occurs more in a relationship between people with less trust. This is a huge majority. I think this is because if there is less trust within a relationship they the individual may get more suspicious of their partner and what they are doing and who they are seeing. This could lead to wrong conclusions and therefore jealousy.

Analysis: Emotional Response To Jealousy

8) What emotions do you feel when you are jealous?

The most common response to jealousy is feeling sad or unhappy. This is a lot more common in females. This supports the argument that females are more emotional than men and the picture that females are weaker and break down more easily. Interestingly, getting angry was the least common emotional response to jealousy. All of the responses participants have felt have been negative, portraying jealousy as a negative thing, even though it has been said earlier that jealousy leads to motivation.