Jealousy at work: The role of rivals’ characteristics

Abstract

The present study examined rival characteristics that may evoke jealousy in the workplace, differences between men and women in this regard, and the relationship between jealousy responses and intrasexual competitiveness and social comparison orientation. Participants were 426 male and female employees. By means of a questionnaire, participants were presented with a jealousy-evoking scenario after which jealousy responses to 24 rival characteristics were assessed. Findings showed that a rival's social communal attributes evoked highest levels of jealousy, and that, compared to men, women reported more jealousy in response to a rival's physical attractiveness. Overall, as individuals had higher scores on intrasexual competitiveness and social comparison orientation, they also experienced more jealousy in response to their rival, regardless of his or her characteristics. These findings suggest that those characteristics that are highly valued in employees may backfire when employees perceive co-workers as rivals.

(C)overt linguistic racism: Eastern-European background immigrant women in the Australian workplace

“…age 19) whose immature behaviour, perhaps, resulted in mockery. Overt linguistic racism by younger women may be caused by feelings of suspiciousness and social comparison (Zurriaga et al., 2018). In another incident, Nadya loses her authority when her Ukrainian English accent becomes a point of mockery by her local assistants, ‘they were standing in front of me looking at me, and they were actually, making jokes about my accent’ (lines 12–13) and ‘they were actually like copying my words, and the way how I say’ (lines 16–17).…”

“…She just, with me like a horse’ [click click] (Interview with Lena). Overt linguistic racism, in this context, might have originated from the internal jealousy towards Lena’s personal values (Zurriaga et al., 2018), as she says that her supervisor ‘was a bit…I wouldn’t say intimidated, but young. No education, like, you know’ (lines 4–5).…”

Jealousy as a Function of Rival Characteristics: Two Large Replication Studies and Meta-Analyses Support Gender Differences in Reactions to Rival Attractiveness But Not Dominance

“…Subsequent to Dijkstra and Buunk (1998) , there has been a suite of papers examining rival characteristics and their effects on jealousy (e.g., Buunk and Dijkstra, 2001 ; Dijkstra and Buunk, 2002 ; O’Connor and Feinberg, 2012 ; Lei et al, 2019 ; Zurriaga et al, 2018 ; see the “Discussion” section for details). Beyond inspiring much other research, the study by Dijkstra and Buunk (1998) is also cited in handbooks on close relationships, evolutionary psychology, and social psychology (e.g., Brehm, 2002 ; Hendrick & Hendrick, 2000 ; Neuberg et al, 2010 ; Schmitt, 2005 ).…”

Workplace Jealousy: The Role of Core Self-evaluation and Organizational Justice as Predictors of Jealousy among Egyptian Women Employees

“…Women treat each other as competitors and get involved in frustrating and negative competitions [20]. Zurriaga's and his colleagues study found that a rival's characteristics lead to higher degrees of jealousy in both men and women at work [21].…”