Who gets more jealous, man or woman?

Jealousy is an emotion that appears when someone believes their relationship with someone else is being threatened by a third party. A person can feel anything from anger to humiliation when jealous. Others are afraid they will lose their loved one.

In his article on Psychologytoday.com, which he titled “What is the Difference Between Envy and Jealousy?”, Richard Smith Ph.D. says “Jealousy occurs when something we already possess (usually a special relationship) is threatened by a third person. And so envy is a two-person situation whereas jealousy is a three-person situation. Envy is a reaction to lacking something. Jealousy is a reaction to the threat of losing something (usually someone).

Lifextra however asked some people who they think are more jealous between men and women.

Reelwan Jibrin, a civil servant, said “Men are more jealous than they pretend. They tend to hide their feelings. In fact, they can kill.”.

Dadson Ibrahim, a Jos resident, who briefly defined jealousy as “a mixture of emotions that can include anger, fear, grief and feelings of betrayal, says jealousy is on the rise in females, whether single or married.”  

Ibrahim added “With more women working outside the house, for instance, it means more social situations and more opportunities for jealousy to arise. You see, the problem of any or some women is that she is always thinking about another woman trying to snatch her man. That leads to jealousy especially if the guy is rich and comfortable.”

Nwankwo Henry, a netizen, who said it is men, stated “Women have been known to put up with cheating men because ‘men will be men’. But let that woman even flirt with another man and the cheating man would lose his mind. Men are more jealous because men are more possessive.” 

A married woman who pleaded anonymity said it is the men “Because my husband thinks a woman shouldn’t have plenty previous sexual partners prior to marriage but it doesn’t matter how many the guy has. He is always bragging about how he married me with no prior sexual experience and not minding the fact that he can’t even count the number of women he had slept with.”

“If that’s not jealousy and possessiveness I don’t know what is.  How many women have you heard of complaining about the number of sexual partners their husband had prior to meeting them?” she added. 

Victor Goni, who resides in Kano, concurred with Dadson when he said “We all know it is women. Women that can’t stand it when a man is admiring God’s handiwork in other women by mere looking.”

Also speaking to LifeXtra, Kome Awaridhe Akande stated “It’s the men. That’s why they can’t stand their spouses cheating on them yet they double date and go as far as getting married to numerous wives. 

Faith George, a student also thinks it’s the men, “Because you see women willingly or due to society norms share their man with other women, but rarely do you see men doing such things.”