Relationships shape jealousy more than personality, five-year study finds
Mar 2nd 2026
A longitudinal analysis published in Personal Relationships finds that intrusive, persistent jealousy is more influenced by the specific relationship than by stable personality alone, based on surveys of 891 young adults across 1,507 relationships over five years.
- The study tracked 891 unmarried adults aged 18 to 34 over five years and recorded 1,507 distinct relationships.
- Cognitive jealousy stayed stable within a given relationship but changed significantly when people switched partners.
- 28.2 percent of the variation in cognitive jealousy was due to individual differences and 39.8 percent was due to differences between relationships.
- Higher neuroticism and attachment anxiety predicted greater cognitive jealousy.
- Knowing a partner cheated early in the relationship was linked to much higher cognitive jealousy.
- People who reported having sex outside their relationship also reported higher cognitive jealousy.
- Men reported slightly higher initial levels of cognitive jealousy than women.
- Data were collected from 2007 to 2012 and mostly involved mixed-gender couples, which may limit applicability to current dating contexts and diverse relationship types.
- Practical implication: effective interventions should target both personal tendencies and relationship-specific dynamics.