https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218772530 Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 1–17 © 2018 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0146167218772530 pspb.sagepub.com Empirical Research Paper Imagine you are at a party with your partner. You stand in line to get a drink and notice your partner talking and laugh- ing with an attractive woman you do not know. Later, you notice the woman’s hand on your partner’s shoulder. How would you feel when you notice the woman talking with your partner? Would you immediately feel jealous or not until she touches your partner? As the situation progresses, would your feelings and behavior change? Depending on your relationship history, such jealousy-inducing situations should trigger specific emotional and cognitive responses that eventually generate behavioral reactions. This cascade of responses is likely to have significant consequences for you, your partner, and your relationship. Despite the significant role that jealousy plays in people’s lives, it has rarely been studied as the dynamic, unfolding experience it truly is. Instead, most prior research has inves- tigated jealousy by asking people how they felt during a pre- vious, self-selected jealousy-inducing event. Although such approaches have produced considerable insight into jealousy, they do not ascertain how different people respond to the same jealousy-inducing situation while it occurs. Why do some people feel jealous when their partner merely glances at a potential mate, whereas others do not feel jealous until there is clearer evidence of a mate-poaching attempt? Do feelings of jealousy and associated negative emotions inten- sify rapidly or gradually as threat escalates? These questions cannot be answered without using a para- digm that (a) standardizes the jealousy situation, (b) allows it to unfold and intensify over time, and (c) allows individuals to experience jealousy without harming their relationships. To answer these questions, we developed a new paradigm— the Response Escalation Paradigm (REP). Using this para- digm in three studies, we examine how individuals’ emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to a hypothetical, escalat- ing jealousy situation are associated with their romantic attachment orientations. The Nature and Functions of Jealousy Jealousy is a complex of thoughts, emotions, and actions that follows loss of or threat to self-esteem and/or the existence or quality of the romantic relationship [when] the perceived loss or threat is 772530PSP XX X 10.1177/0146167218772530Personality and Social Psychology BulletinHuelsnitz et al. research-article 2018 1 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA 2 Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA 3 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Corresponding Author: Chloe O. Huelsnitz, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Email: miro0047@umn.edu Attachment and Jealousy: Understanding the Dynamic Experience of Jealousy Using the Response Escalation Paradigm Chloe O. Huelsnitz 1 , Allison K. Farrell 2 , Jeffry A. Simpson 1 , Vladas Griskevicius 1 , and Ohad Szepsenwol 3 Abstract Jealousy is a complex, dynamic experience that unfolds over time in relationship-threatening situations. Prior research has used retrospective reports that cannot disentangle initial levels and change in jealousy in response to escalating threat. In three studies, we examined responses to the Response Escalation Paradigm (REP)—a 5-stage hypothetical scenario in which individuals are exposed to increasing levels of relationship threat—as a function of attachment orientations. Highly anxious individuals exhibited hypervigilant, slow escalation response patterns, interfered earlier in the REP, felt more jealousy, sadness, and worry when they interfered, and wanted to engage in more vigilant, destructive, and passive behaviors aimed at their partner. Highly avoidant individuals felt more anger when they interfered in the REP and wanted to engage in more partner-focused, destructive behaviors. The REP offers a dynamic method for inducing and examining jealousy and introduces a novel approach to studying other emotional experiences. Keywords emotion in relationships, adult attachment, romantic relationships, emotions Received May 22, 2017; revision accepted March 30, 2018