Gender differences in face concerns and behavioral responses to romantic jealousy : A study in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this quantitative study are: 1) to explore gender differences in face-saving concerns and behaviors in response to romantic jealousy as well as their associations and 2) to test the constructed model used in Thai settings.

A theoretical model was constructed and tested through statistical analysis. Subsequently, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 112 heterosexual Thai males and females in their native language. The questionnaires measured concerns for face-saving and communicative responses to romantic jealousy. The independent sample t-test statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients were utilized to examine gender differences in face-saving and behaviors in reaction to jealousy as well as relationships between face-saving concerns and communicative responses to romantic jealousy.

The survey questionnaires aligned with Thai contexts proved an acceptable reliability, contributing to an introductory provision of gender differences in given subjects in Thailand. The study revealed a significant gender difference in concern for saving other-face during romantic jealousy eruption. Specifically, heterosexual Thai males tended to save other-face during jealousy experience. Also, there were gender differences in negative communication, counter-jealousy induction, surveillance and derogations of a rival. The result showed that more women than men were likely to use those responses. Likewise, there were significant gender differences in associations between self-face and silence as well as mutual-face and surveillance. In particular, heterosexual Thai women were inclined to save their face while using silence in response to romantic jealousy. Besides, the result showed that heterosexual Thai women were less concerned about saving mutual-face during the use of surveillance.

The findings suggest that gender roles have some effects on saving other-face during jealousy experience. Specifically, dealing with Thai men during romantic jealousy is to not force them to open up and express their jealousy since their primary concern is to protect their women’s feelings. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that some women are expressive and negative when feeling jealous; therefore, men should try to respond to these behaviors with understanding to prevent more conflict escalations. In particular, the study reveals that using positive behaviors such as integrative communication will be likely to ensure and increase mutual trust and respect, which sustains a relationship in the long run. More importantly, it is surprising that women are more self-defensive when they use silence. Apparently, men will gain more understanding that in times of using silence women do not trust their lovers to validate their feelings. The final suggestion of this study is that increases in using surveillance will result in decreases in saving both faces and protecting their romantic relationships.