Emotion and Women’s Intrasexual Mating Competition

Abstract Women compete with each other for access to mates who possess desirable qualities. This chapter addresses the emotional underpinnings of women’s intrasexual mating competition, and links emotional experiences with specific competitive situations. The emotional side of women’s intrasexual competition has rarely been studied, and consequently, much of this chapter is about setting the stage to explore what emotions are presumably experienced. The existing work focuses on experiences of anger, jealousy, and envy, usually within the context of imagining interactions with rivals, and thus, they are individually presented in light of past work. After reviewing the framework of competition, in terms of why women intrasexually compete for mates and the goal of this form of competition, the discussion moves to indirect aggression and then addresses each of these emotions in turn. The chapter ends with concrete suggestions for future research.