Romantic jealousy: Five perspectives and an integrative approach

There are five main theoretical perspectives on jealousy, each with its own treatment application: The psychodynamic approach views jealousy as the result of unresolved childhood experiences and as best treated by individual psychotherapy. The systems approach views jealousy as a result of the dynamic in a particular relationship and as best treated by couple therapy. The behavioral approach views jealousy as a learned response that can be unlearned. The social psychological approach views jealousy as determined by the social environment and as best treated by shifting from a dispositional to a situational attribution. The sociobiological perspective views jealousy as innate and its treatment application involves breaking couples' fallacy of uniqueness regarding jealousy. An integrative approach using the contributions of all five perspectives is recommended.