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A Rational-Emotive Therapy Approach to Romantic Jealousy (open access)

A Rational-Emotive Therapy Approach to Romantic Jealousy

Rational-emotive therapy was proposed as a therapeutic treatment approach to romantic jealousy. It was hypothesized that rational-emotive therapy would be significantly more effective than an attention placebo group in the reduction of romantic jealousy with undergraduate single female subjects. It was also hypothesized that reductions in romantic jealousy would be sustained to a significantly greater extent in the rational-emotive therapy group rather than the attention placebo group on a follow-up evaluation after a 2-month period. Advertisements soliciting single females who were romantically jealous and who felt that this was a problem in their love relationships yielded 18 female subjects from the North Texas State University campus. The pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up assessments consisted of two self-report questionnaires. The pre- and post-treatment also included a physiological measurement (heart rate) while the subject was imagining a jealousy scene. Both of the self-report questionnaires (Sexual Jealousy, Irrational Beliefs) were given to a significant other (such as a boyfriend or lover). Results support the hypothesis that rational-emotive therapy is more effective than an equally credible placebo in the reduction of female romantic jealousy.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Marshall, Melissa
System: The UNT Digital Library