Envy Mediates the Relationship Between Physical Appearance Comparison and Women’s Intrasexual Gossip

Morgan, Rachael; Locke, Ashley; Arnocky, Steven

doi:10.1007/s40806-021-00298-6

Research Article
Published: 27 September 2021

Envy Mediates the Relationship Between Physical Appearance Comparison and Women’s Intrasexual Gossip

Evolutionary Psychological Science volume 8, pages 148–157 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Physical attractiveness is a central component of women’s mate value. However, the extent to which women possess attractive physical traits varies between individuals, placing less attractive women at a mating disadvantage. Researchers have suggested that envy may have evolved as an emotion that promotes intrasexual competition in response to unfavorable social comparisons on important mate value traits, such as physical attractiveness. Previous research has shown that envy mediates links between unfavorable appearance comparisons and women’s intended appearance-enhancement behavior. In the current research, we extended this framework to examine the link between upward appearance comparisons and women’s intrasexual gossip. Women were assigned to either an appearance comparison or control advertisement rating task, and subsequently completed measures of state envy and gossip toward a same-sex rival. Results found that induced appearance comparisons predicted increased envy, which in turn predicted greater willingness to spread negative (but not positive) gossip about an attractive woman. Two cross-sectional survey studies (online supplement) replicated the model whereby more self-reported upward appearance comparisons predicted more self-reported gossip (Supplemental Study 1) and indirect aggression toward other women (Supplemental Study 2), and these links were mediated by dispositional envy. These results support the hypothesis that envy is an adaptation that promotes intrasexual competition using social aggression in response to unfavorable social comparisons on important mate value traits.

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Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (file # RGPIN-2019–05988) awarded to S. Arnocky.

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Nipissing University, 100 College Drive, North Bay, ON, Canada
Ashley Locke & Steven Arnocky
University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
Rachael Morgan

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Rachael Morgan
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Ashley Locke
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Steven Arnocky
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RM wrote the manuscript with assistance from AL and edits from SA. RM and SA developed the hypotheses. SA designed the experimental model. AL collected the data. AL collected and organized online data. RM conducted the analyses.

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Correspondence to Steven Arnocky.

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Morgan, R., Locke, A. & Arnocky, S. Envy Mediates the Relationship Between Physical Appearance Comparison and Women’s Intrasexual Gossip. Evolutionary Psychological Science 8, 148–157 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00298-6

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Received: 20 August 2020
Revised: 07 September 2021
Accepted: 07 September 2021
Published: 27 September 2021
Issue Date: June 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00298-6

Keywords

Envy
Appearance comparison
Indirect aggression
Gossip
Intrasexual competition
Evolution of emotion
Mate value