When we perceive other people to be more interesting, attractive, talented or successful than we are, we sometimes perceive them to be threats to our relationships with others, and so experience jealousy. Previous research has linked jealousy to perceived threats to one’s sense of self-worth. I refer to the process of evaluating oneself through social comparisons as “zero-sum self-worth”. In the introduction, I cite evidence suggesting that some individuals exhibit zero-sum self-worth more than others do. Furthermore, I argue that this may reflect differences in working models of self and others outlined in attachment theory. I propose that attachment anxiety fosters a more zero-sum approach to self-worth, and that this in turn disposes people to feeling more jealous of others. In this PhD, I investigated these hypotheses among young adults in the UK.
In Chapter 2, I report two studies that I conducted to investigate associations between attachment anxiety and zero-sum self-worth. I found that attachment anxiety is associated with self-reports of performing social comparisons more frequently, but that, experimentally, attachment anxiety does not predict greater self-esteem threat from an upward comparison. In Chapter 3, I report on a self-report study in which I found that social comparison frequency was not associated with jealous reactions or suspicions, and furthermore, that comparison frequency did not mediate associations between attachment anxiety and romantic jealousy. By contrast, in Chapter 4, I report an experience sampling study, in which I found that young adults are more likely to experience jealousy after performing social comparisons. Attachment anxiety did not increase self-esteem threat from upward comparisons, but did increase their effects on jealousy.
I did not find strong evidence for an individual difference in zero-sum self-worth among young adults, nor that attachment anxiety increases the tendency to judge oneself in this way. However, attachment anxiety does make high performing individuals seem more threatening to one’ relationships, and I finish by suggesting potential strategies for overcoming more chronic senses of threat to self and relationships.
