Schriller Elevator Many jealous people easily recognizable by their clothes

Jealous persons like to dress extravagantly
Even if some do not want to admit it: Almost every person is jealous now and then. Some people tend to withdraw, others even react with aggression. Researchers have now discovered an extraordinary peculiarity of jealous people: they rather buy flashy clothes than simple ones.

How people deal with jealousy
For many, jealousy is an immature feeling, a weakness and a sign of a lack of self-confidence. Although the fear of losing the partner can also become morbid and lead to physical discomfort, but light jealousy according to psychologists and psychotherapists is quite normal. There are different ways in which sufferers react to their jealousy: some become more depressed, others sometimes aggressive. And some go shopping - and like extravagant.

Researchers have found in an experiment that jealousy increases the desire to buy things that catch one's eye and thus increase the partner's attention. Even if they make a fool of themselves. (Image: Countrypixel / fotolia.com)

Attention of the partner
As researchers around Xun (Irene) Huang from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have found out in a five-experiment experiment, jealousy increases the desire to buy for things that catch one's eye and thus increase the partner's attention.

According to Huang, this effect is not just limited to romantic relationships, according to news agency "Pressetext".

"Children can be jealous of the relationship between their siblings and their parents, and colleagues can be jealous of the boss's line," says the scientist.

Desire for conspicuous goods
However, the researchers, who published their findings in the journal "Journal of Consumer Psychology," also noted that the desire for eye-catching products disappeared when there was little chance of it being publicly recognized by others.

"This effect of jealousy is only apparent when the products are shown in public," the Journal says.

For example, a golden version of the purchase of a lamp for the bedroom received as much attention as a simple one in gray.

Preference for attention-getting products
It was also surprising, according to the scientists, that the desire to regain someone else's attention with eye-catching products was even stronger than the perception of the risk of being ridiculed in public.

"If the product was used publicly, the preference for attention-getting products was heightened by jealousy, even if the use of these products was considered socially inappropriate," the report said.

It does not matter if you make a fool of yourself
According to the information, the participants were asked in an experiment to imagine being invited to a party.

The subjects of one group should imagine they were invited to a costume party by friends, and the other group to a company party for new employees of their company.

All participants had to decide in the episode for normal sunglasses or a unique and eye-catching model. It turned out that those who were jealous chose the eye-catching glasses in both cases. It did not matter to them that they could not look at it in the company.

According to Huang, the new findings are likely to be of particular interest to the advertising industry. According to these studies, advertisements or commercials could specifically appeal to the jealousy of certain consumers and motivate them to make purchasing decisions. (Ad)