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Evaluation of infidelity & jealousy. Practical applications. A strength of infidelity and jealousy explanations of aggression is it has strong practical applications.
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Practical applications • A strength of infidelity and jealousy explanations of aggression is it has strong practical applications. • This is because it identifies the underlying mechanisms involved sexual jealousy and aggression in response to infidelity for both males and females. • As a result, it can help to highlight potential violence against partners which may be especially useful when attempting to understanding signs of domestic violence
Alternative explanations • Yet an issue with infidelity and jealousy explanations is it ignores other explanations. Although it does emphasise the importance of biological factors for example the act of fertilization being completely internal and therefore paternal uncertainty arises, it does not consider the role of hormones and genetics in aggression. • Further to this it fails to acknowledge the influence of the environment by only explaining the act of aggression as an adaptive response to infidelity and jealousy. For example, aggression may be explained by the SLT which states aggression occurs from the observation and imitation of role models. • The simple presence of other explanations suggest infidelity and jealousy cannot be a complete explanation of human aggression
Operationalization of infidelity • A further issue with infidelity and jealousy explanations is that views about what infidelity is are subjective • There is not a set criteria for exactly what infidelity is considered to be, therefore it is left to personal opinion to judge this. • As a result, individuals will respond to threats of infidelity differently based on when they themselves become jealous.
Debates Gender Bias • As the research and explanation of aggression looks at infidelity and jealousy from the perspective of both males and females, evolutionary psychologists have taken steps to avoid gender bias in their research into explanations of aggression Nature/Nurture • According to this evolutionary explanation, it states that aggression through sexual jealousy can be explained adaptively through mate retention and reducing paternal uncertainty. This suggests that this behaviour has an evolutionary advantage of survival and as a result is passed on to further generations. This is a further example of the nature side of the nature-nurture debate
