The Threat Scanner

THREAT ASSESSMENT

“Every like, comment, and lingering glance is evidence I have to process before I can breathe.” Buunk’s threat-appraisal model shows jealousy fires when we perceive a rival might take what we value most. Anxious attachment (Hart & Legerstee) turns that fire into a 24/7 surveillance operation — the scanner never goes offline because it was built to protect the relationship, but it ends up corroding it instead.

KNOWN SIGNATURES

• ▸You've re-checked their follower list twice tonight and it's not even midnight.
• ▸A name you don't recognize in their phone produces a full background investigation in your head.
• ▸You feel briefly calm when you find nothing — and immediately start looking again.

TARGET LIST — ACTIVE INSTANCES

• ▸“Who liked that — and why are they always liking everything”
• ▸“They kept texting while we were together — who was it”
• ▸“Why did they just follow that person”
• ▸“They came home late and seem different tonight”

FIELD INTELLIGENCE

PERSONNEL

COUNTERMEASURES

• The scanner finds evidence for whatever I already fear. It's not neutral — it's confirming a verdict.
• If I need to know something, I ask them directly. One honest question beats a hundred covert searches.
• I put the phone down. The threat is in my nervous system right now, not in their feed.