The Green-Eyed Monster (no, not Doyle...)

[m31andy]

Quite a while ago, cuvalwen raised the question "what evolutionary advantage has jealousy?", to which I couldn't really answer. But it looks like the question may be laid to rest at last.

Looks like it's a by-product of bonding: 'Cuddle chemical' may create green-eyed monster

ETA: kelemvor just pointed out that what they are actually talking about is envy, not jealousy. I'm blaming the monthly report on this one as my brain is currently mush.

Comments

[kelemvor.livejournal.com]

The evolutionary advantage of jealousy is that you keep a close eye on your mate and make sure that between you, you only raise your own offspring.

That article is talking about envy, which isn't quite the same.

sgloomi summed them up very succinctly:
Envy is you've got it and I want it.
Jealousy is I've got and you can't have it!

Had I known this at an earlier age, all the agony aunt pages about the stereotypical "jealous boy/girlfriend" would have made much more sense.

*Goes back to VB script*

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

Ah, good point! I'd got that a bit mixed up!!!

[not-here.livejournal.com]

Not quite,it's more to do with rivalry than I've got it and you can't have it. You can be jealous of the person who beat you to a promotion for example or jealous of the time parents spend with a sibling. In both cases you don't have the thing you want. Fearful or wary of being supplanted is a good definition.

[cuvalwen.livejournal.com]

Is that necesseraly jealousy or mis-named envy?

[not-here.livejournal.com]

The 2 are very close but I think the exact facts determin whether its jealousy or envy. You can have all the time you want with your parents and not actually want any more (No envy of your sibling) but still be jealous of the time they spend with your sibling. The fear is that they become closer to your sibling than to you. Same with the promotion, you may not want your collegue's job, or may even have the same job but still feel jealous because you are now not as important as you were. Both situations could also be envy though, if say you wanted more time with your parents or you did want the promotion your collegue got.

[cuvalwen.livejournal.com]

The evolutionary advantage of jealousy is that you keep a close eye on your mate and make sure that between you, you only raise your own offspring.

That would put the development of jealousy quite late in human development then, after pair-bonding became standard, as it appears that early humans (e.g. homo habilis) operated like our primate cousins and children were raised pretty much communally. Parents might favour their own child over others, but not the extent that they wouldn't assist in the raising of others.
I suppose the question is- do gorillas and chimps display jealousy?
And if so, is it about sexual possesiveness towards the individual female, or is it an alpha male reaction to another male muscleing in on his territory/status?

[kelemvor.livejournal.com]

That is about as far as my knowledge of the subject extends, I'm afraid. I'm a botanist, and plants (so far as I'm aware) don't suffer from either!