The goal of the present study was to examine whether women who were abandoned by their father experience more anxious, preventive and reactive jealousy than women who grew up in the presence of their father. The sample consisted of 186 female undergraduate students from Curaçao (age M = 22.88; SD = 5.68) who were categorized into two groups: women who grew up without their father and women who grew up in the presence of their father. We found that women who were abandoned by their father reported significantly more anxious and preventive jealousy than women who grew up in the presence of their father. There were no significant differences between these two groups in reactive jealousy. Possible explanations are discussed in light of the potential function of jealousy for females who grew up without a father.

Abstract. The present study’s primary aim was to examine the effect of an imbalanced sex ratio on the Dark Triad traits, three types of jealousy, and their relations. For this purpose, data were collected in the Netherlands ( n = 297) and Curaçao ( n = 199). Curaçao is a constituent part of the Netherlands, but has, contrary to the Netherlands, a highly imbalanced sex ratio. We expected the Dark Triad traits to be positively related to anxious and preventive jealousy, but not to reactive jealousy (Hypothesis 1), and, in addition, these relations to be more pronounced in Curaçao than in the Netherlands (Hypothesis 2). Furthermore, it was expected that Curaçaoan men would score higher on the Dark Triad traits than Dutch men (Hypothesis 3), and that Curaçaoan men and women would, overall, report higher levels of jealousy than Dutch men and women (Hypothesis 4). Results largely supported Hypotheses 1, 2, and 4, but not Hypothesis 3. Results are discussed in relation to the role of sex ratio and the cultural beliefs that may accompany it. The current study’s findings may provide new insights into the role of the Dark Triad traits in mating psychology.

Abstract. Most studies on changes in female behavior and preferences across the menstrual cycle have been conducted in samples comprised of largely white undergraduate students from Western populations. The present study examined cyclical shifts in reactive, preventive and anxious jealousy in a sample of 71 Afro-Caribbean women from Curaçao, a country in the Caribbean. We expected that, because of the risk of conceiving, especially preventive jealousy would be relatively high when fertile to safeguard the male's protection, provisioning and investment. The results showed that, when fertile, women experienced indeed particularly more preventive jealousy, and also somewhat more anxious jealousy, but not more reactive jealousy, than when non-fertile. In addition, preventive jealousy was higher the later the age of the first menarche. We discuss possible explanations for the functionality of preventive jealousy during the fertile phase of the cycle, and for the functionality of such jealousy among women with a slow life history strategy.

Based on the assumptions of self-discrepancy theory, the present study examined the degree of overweight, weight-related body images, and the relation between these images and body mass index (BMI) among two samples of young people from Curaçao (secondary school students, n = 176; undergraduate students, n = 205). In addition to BMI, participants reported their current, ideal, and most feared body sizes, the thinnest and largest body sizes still acceptable to them, and the body size they considered the healthiest by means of the Contour Drawing Rating Scale. We expected females to show a larger discrepancy between current and ideal body size than males (Hypothesis 1) and that this discrepancy (as an indicator of body dissatisfaction) would be related more strongly to BMI among females than among males (Hypothesis 2). Results yielded support for Hypothesis 1 among secondary school students only. Only in the undergraduate sample, BMI and body dissatisfaction were related, but equally so for males and females. Possible explanations are discussed as well as implications for weight management interventions.

The present study examined young women's weight-influenced self-esteem (WISE) in response to imagined weight gain and weight loss, and its relations to body satisfaction, body comparisons and global self-esteem. Young women from two different regions, that is, from the north of The Netherlands (n=157) and from the Willemstad area (the capital of Curacao; n=162), completed a questionnaire. It was expected that Dutch women would show lower self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain than women from Curacao, and that self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain would be negatively related to general self-esteem and body satisfaction, and more so among Dutch women than among Curacaoan women. Finally, it was expected that body comparisons would be predictive of lower self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain. As expected Dutch women showed lower self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain than Curacaoan women. Moreover, findings showed that among Curacaoan women self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain was not related to general self-esteem or body satisfaction and that body comparisons were less predictive of lowered self-esteem in response to imagined weight gain than among Dutch women. Findings are discussed in light of cultural differences in ideal body shape and the supportiveness of women's social networks.