RESEARCH_FILE
David Buss
University of Michigan (as of 1992 research); later University of Texas at Austin
Known for:Evolutionary psychologist whose cross-cultural research on sex differences in jealousy — sexual vs. emotional infidelity cues — became one of the most debated findings in relationship science, interpreted through parental investment theory
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I'm not even their usual type — they must be settling”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I don’t know their usual type; I know they’re here with me.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
For seven minutes, make a two-column note on paper or in a private phone draft: left side, only observable facts from the last interaction; right side, the parts that assume you’re being settled for. Circle the assumptions and close the note.
Key findings
- 1992
Buss and colleagues found that men reported significantly more distress at imagined sexual infidelity and women at imagined emotional infidelity — a pattern interpreted as reflecting different adaptive concerns: paternity uncertainty for men, resource and commitment diversion for women. The finding spawned decades of replication attempts and methodological critiques. Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology ↗