Jealously: An analysis

its emotional components, its causes and effects, and treatment modalities.

In a "Dear Abby" column by Abigail Van Buren, a woman wrote in saying that the man she recently married "was always jealous, but I thought he would change (after marriage). I was wrong. Although I've never given him any reason to doubt me, he checks up on my every move (Van Buren E3).

Abby suggests professional help for the man, making it clear that as much as most people appreciate "a little jealousy" on the parts of their mates to indicate "that they care," it is obvious that a little of this powerful emotion goes a long way and in its most severe form certainly does call for professional interven-tion.

Lindzey et al. writes of jealousy in terms of its relationship to exclusivity. Exclusivity is defined as "the desire to have sole possession of the loved one" (Lindzey et al. 448). When this possessiveness or exclusivity is threatened by a competing interest or by a third person, jealousy may spring up, as Lindzey et al. put it. And "spring up" is particularly apt as a descrip-tion of the dynamics of jealousy, for the essentially emotional make-up of the jealous response is indeed an apparently un-controllable one.

Lindzey et al., in fact, refer to both falling in love and the jealous response to an intrusion on that love as essentially

programmed elements of the emotional-psychological reality of an

. . .
jealous individual is resentful and envious of others, or is predisposed to be possessive of his own loves. Clearly, then, the answer to the problem of inappropriate and unhealthy jealousy begins in childhood. Parents should not suppress any expression of jealousy, as Bank and Kahn make clear, but should at the same time strive to let the child know---particularly the overly jealous child---that there are inappropriate and appropriate expressions of one's feelings of importance for things and people one cares for. As Bank and Kahn point out, the child' s development of a strong and healthy sense of self is in part dependent on that child's expression of his sense of being different and separate from others---a sense intimately tied to jealousy. In fact, as Bank and Kahn point out, some parents erroneously assume that children who are treated the same, will not be jealous of one another and will reduce their fighting and quarreling. In fact, the opposite usually occurs. Fusing the children (in which the parents through ignorance or fear treat the children without regard to their special and unique needs and abilities) is much more likely to create an impairment of reality testing and a blurring of what is self and what is 'not
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bank Kahn, E3 Abby, Gesell Ilg, Freud Hans, Little Hans, Corriere Binder, Van Buren, , et al, lindzey et, Angeles Times, lindzey et al, York Delta, jealous response, bank kahn, van buren, et al 448, jealousy bank, emotional psychological, expression jealousy, professional help, favoritism parents, jealousy bank kahn,
Approximate Word count = 1588
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Jealously: An analysis