Is jealousy healthy in relationships?

Maha (No)

Shakespeare may have had the right idea about jealousy when he wrote, 'O beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.' Jealousy has long been considered an unproductive emotion as it can be a destructive energy drain in relationships, induce negative self-talk, impair rational thinking, and even lead to harmful behavior. 

According to Psychology Today, jealousy results from several emotions, including low self-esteem, high neuroticism, feeling possessive of others, and fear of abandonment. Each of these negative emotions can cloud individuals' decision-making. For instance, low self-confidence results from a person's fear of making the wrong decision, leading to self-limitation, inability to be responsible for decisions, and doubt. Jealousy is also responsible for individuals losing control and even committing crimes. Jealousy further affects the body, often triggering a stress response. As a result, individuals experience a spike in heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones, among other physical problems. And the longer someone remains stressed, they may increase their risk of diseases like heart disease and cancer. 

In addition to harming the body and mind, jealousy can be a relationship killer. Be it friendship or romance, the relationship will be filled with resentment, defensiveness, lack of trust, and arguments. It also has the power to affect individuals' careers negatively. Jealous workers disengage from their work and teammates, eliminating healthy competition. They also have trouble building the momentum they need to advance their career. With a lot to lose in every way possible, individuals shouldn't give in to jealousy. Instead, they should seek help and work on themselves to avoid letting the monster control them. 

Luke (Yes)

Our modern culture often views jealousy as an extreme negative. However, from an evolutionary standpoint, the widespread prevalence of jealousy within the human species means it is either a net positive or has no significant effect on survivability. The current understanding of the utility of jealousy, from evolutionary biology, points to how this negative emotion was important in 'mate guarding' for the purpose of the male ensuring that the children he was raising were indeed his. That is, males who experienced jealousy were more likely to ensure that their genes were passed on to the next generation, whereas males without jealousy were less likely to do so. 

In line with this notion, jealousy between mates, to a certain degree, is useful in keeping the two together, giving them the ability to maintain the stable lifestyle necessary to produce offspring successfully. Of course, this assumes that the jealousy remains under control and does not devolve into accusatory delusions or worse. Another aspect of jealousy is that it is directly linked to one's concept of value, be it jealousy in terms of mating or in terms of covetousness. Without jealousy, a strong emotion linked to a desire for value, people would be less inclined to keep what they have and work for what they want. 

In short, without jealousy, humans would be less likely to defend their romantic relationships and would be less likely to strive for greater things. Though jealousy left unchecked can lead to negative outcomes, like some partners becoming irrationally driven by suspicion and distrust, its original purpose is not that. Jealousy is a productive emotion due to its evolutionary utility and initial usefulness in building and maintaining stable relationships.