Jealousy has many causes, but it is almost always related to a partner’s infidelity or past cheating scenes. Jealousy can add intriguing shades to a relationship, but at the same time it acts as a destructive force. Unreasonable jealousy can cool feelings and destroy relationships.
The forms, types and manifestations of jealousy itself can be endless, and this is because it comes from within ourselves, from the depths of our subconscious. Jealous behavior is determined by one of the characteristics of a person’s character. Or all of them. So, if you want to draw a line on your partner’s possessiveness, first try to find out what type of jealous person you are dealing with.
A room of mirrors
Reflective jealousy is a psychological mechanism when a person’s jealousy is formed according to the projection of their own infidelity. Such a pattern of jealousy blocks a person’s trust in the other one, because in every situation there is a seemingly threat of infidelity: so to speak, if I can become the object of someone else’s love, why can’t my partner become one? High ambitions, a sense of possible humiliation and the fear of losing other one as a property are manifested in the emotional behavior of the envious person and the pressure they exert on the other half.
And although this relationship model is not ideal and often causes negative feelings in both partners, it can be difficult to break up with an excessively jealous partner, because it all works as a concept of dominance. The constant attention of the dominant partner increases the sexual arousal of the submissive one, and the sexual relationship between such couples is more like rough and stormy sex with elements of BDSM than an act of love.
Unhealthy jealousy
Morbid jealousy is usually characteristic of people with a hypochondriac character. Such people tend to worry constantly and have inferiority complexes, and they often overestimate danger. Paranoid jealousy can become the cause of a person’s low self-esteem. Jealous people seem to understand that they are doing wrong and at least partly admit it, but they still cannot stop being jealous because they do not want to be compared with others and they are afraid of losing their loved one.
Often, morbid jealousy develops at a young age, so it is not worth hoping that the partner will “mature” with time. Rather, the opposite will happen, with time the morbid jealousy will turn into aggression and unpredictable behavior of the partner.
Jealousy of infidelity
Manifestations of jealousy directly depend on each person’s temperament, character traits and personal experience. In the case of infidelity, jealousy towards the other party can take the form of insults, threats, exaggerated random reactions, or silence and ignoring. People who have experienced a partner’s infidelity or have been deeply hurt in the past experience a strong sense of helplessness and therefore react accordingly.
Jealousy between men and women
There are also some types of jealousy that are unique to men and women. Men’s jealousy often manifests itself as a woman’s right of priority. Perhaps for this reason, it is more difficult for men to forgive their partner’s infidelity and they initiate divorce more often than women.
Jealousy in women has a socio-biological basis. During the period of pregnancy and raising the child, she wants the child to have a father to help take care of him. Therefore, female jealousy is directly related to mutual feelings, loyalty and guarantees.
Jealousy can often be unwarranted, but the possibility of an unpleasant situation can never be ruled out. After all, if it were otherwise, such a phenomenon would not exist. However, no matter how you want to calculate the risk of infidelity, the inability to respect the identity of the other person can destroy the relationship, and whether this threshold will be reached depends only on time and the efforts of both partners.