In support of self-evaluation maintenance processes in the experience of jealousy, an experiment found that participants experienced the most intense jealousy when rivals …
A) were simply more attractive they were
B) outperformed them on some self-relevant dimension
C) outperformed them on a non-essential dimension
D) were more attractive and outperformed them n a non-relevant dimension

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The experiment found that participants experienced the most intense jealousy when rivals outperformed them on some self-relevant dimension. This supports the self-evaluation maintenance theory, which suggests that jealousy arises when someone close to us outperforms us on a dimension that is important to our self-concept. A rival's attractiveness alone may not be enough to trigger intense jealousy, whereas being outperformed on a trait or ability that is important to us may cause us to feel threatened and jealous. Option A is incorrect because attractiveness alone may not be a self-relevant dimension. Option C is incorrect because being outperformed on a non-essential dimension may not cause as much jealousy as being outperformed on a self-relevant dimension. Option D is also incorrect because attractiveness alone may not be enough to trigger intense jealousy, and being outperformed on a non-relevant dimension may not cause as much jealousy as being outperformed on a self-relevant dimension.

In Support of Self-Evaluation Maintenance Processes in the Experience of Jealousy