Gender aggression in cases of infidelity

INTRODUCTION-
My hypothesis is that women are more aggressive in cases of infidelity then men. Women are attached to men in the emotional and resources aspect, as men are attached to women in the sexual/reproductive aspect. Women become jealous because they see other woman as a threat to take away the emotional attachment they have with their significant others and the resources they provide. Men become jealous to prevent infidelity. Therefore when a man is faced with an act of infidelity he views the relationship as expelled, opposed to when a woman is faced with an act of infidelity she views it as a loss of resources and emotional trauma. The number of woman murdering their husbands is on the rise and nearly equal to the amount of men who murder their wives.


LITERATURE REVIEW-
Paul, L., & Galloway, J. (1994). Sexual Jealousy: Gender Differences in Response to Partner and Rival. Aggressive Behavior, 20(3), 203-211.

de Weerth, C., & Kalma, A. (1993). Female Aggression as a Response to Sexual Jealousy: A Sex Role Reversal?. Aggressive Behavior, 19(4), 265-279.

Margo, I., & Daly, M. (1992). Who kills whom in spouse killings? On the exceptional sex ratio of spousal homicides in the United States. Criminology, 30(2), 189-215.


METHOD-
I will test my hypothesis by asking the sample to read a short story about a couple who appear to be happy and about to be married. The male copy of the story will end with the boyfriend walking in on the girlfriend with another man and the female copy of the story will end with the girlfriend walking in on the boyfriend with another woman. The participants will be asked to complete the story, explaining in a short essay what would happen next. My operational definition will be how many acts of aggression are performed per participants’ story. My sample will consist of 15-20 participants. The definition I will be using for the term aggression will be, aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy, whether done out of hostility or as a calculated means to an end.