Genes , Jealousy , and the Replication of Misspecified Models

This exchange presents divergent views on a specific sex difference in jealousy. Everyone agrees that the sex difference in infidelity choice reported by Buss and his colleagues (Buss, Larsen, Westen, & Semmelroth, 1992) is replicable. However, we assert that individuals select a type of infidelity (sexual vs. emotional) as more distressing based on the perceived differential likelihood of each infidehty type implying the other. These perceptions covary with, but are not caused by, biological sex. We are heartened by the similar theoretical position and empirical support presented by Harris and Christenfeld (this issue). They, too, argue for the importance of measuring sex differences in the perceived covariation between the two types of infidelity, and their conclusions are strikingly similar to ours.