Jealousy and Love: Are they Interconnected?

DEAR EDITOR

A committed relationship or romantic relationship is interconnected with jealousy [1]. In addition, jealousy preserves and promotes love [2]. Jealousy is a negative emotional response based on a partner's or a former partner's involvement with a third person [3], or it is a complicated reaction in response to a perceived threat, which may end or destroy a relationship that is considered important [4]. Again, it is a complex of thoughts, emotions, and actions that follow loss or threat to self-esteem and/or the existence or quality of the romantic relationship [5]. According to these definitions, jealousy is a complex condition that includes various feelings and reactions. Jealousy in close relationships arises when individuals perceive a real, imagined, or potential rival as a threat to their connection and can include emotions, such as fear, mistrust, anxiety, rage, rejection, and threat [6, 7]. One study found three types of jealousy: reactive, anxious, and possessive or preventive. Reactive jealousy is an emotional reaction to discovering that a partner has engaged in erotic or sexual behavior, such as flirting or having sex with a third person. Anxious jealousy is characterized by ruminating and worrying about the possibility that one's partner is being unfaithful. This takes place through an active cognitive process in which the person creates images of their partner becoming emotionally or sexually involved with someone else and goes through a range of emotions, including worry, distrust, and being upset [8]. Finally, the “preventive” or “possessive” jealousy. Today, this type of jealousy is more prevalent. It encompasses themes, like possessiveness toward a mate and how a person feels about having “wandering eyes” [9]. The three categories of jealousy have been shown to be substantially linked to neuroticism, social anxiety, rigidity, and hostility, but not egoism or dominance [8].

Love is the formation of an emotional relationship with someone or something that can receive loving behavior and send the sensory and psychological impulses required for its maintenance and motivation [10-12]. At some point in our lives, almost everyone experiences romantic love [13], which significantly influences our lives. Romantic love is advantageous to the individual. For instance, love is related to good emotions, including euphoria [14], and having a love relationship makes one happier and more content with life [15]. Nevertheless, love has harmful effects. For instance, love is related to tension [16], whereas sadness and shame are associated with relationship breakups [17], a decline in contentment and pleasure in life [18], hopelessness [19], and depression [20]; notably, depression is more likely to affect women [21-24].

Despite the negative effects on relationships that jealousy can have, it is frequently romanticized and viewed as a sign of love and commitment in romantic relationships [25]. When thinking about healthy relationships, mutual trust, respect, communication, and compassion come to mind. Community psychiatry declares that a little jealousy can be beneficial [26]. Several relationship-sustaining attributes are positively connected with jealousy. Jealousy, in particular, is linked to a greater love for the partner [27]. Moreover, if it is conveyed in a healthy way, a little bit of jealousy might be seen as a good thing in a relationship. In reality, studies have shown that in relationships, jealousy is associated with a greater love for the partner, stronger sensations of being “in love,” and more stability in the relationship as a whole [28]. It is also linked to a higher level of dissatisfaction with a relationship in general [29, 30], as well as, more significantly, with sexual aspects of the relationship [31, 32]. In other words, jealousy can predict relationship satisfaction, but this relationship depends on how much one loves his/her partner [27]. A Norwegian study found that men are more jealous of sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity, whereas women are more jealous of emotional infidelity than sexual infidelity [33].

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, jealousy and love are interconnected. In a relationship, everyone wants attention and to be the apple of their partner's eye. When one sees that his or her partner gives attention to the third person, he/she feels jealous, and this type of jealousy comes from fear of losing their partner. Assume that you and your partner have a good relationship, you two adore each other, and you both feel jealous when you experience your partner flirting with a heterosexual person, even in regular conversation. Moreover, people, especially young people, do not always understand their feelings; they are unsure whether they are in like or love feelings. If you like someone and he or she likes someone else, and you find out, you start disliking and not tolerating that third person. In this scenario, the jealousy that comes into your mind is for love feelings. Therefore, we can say that both jealousy and love are related to each other.

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