Effects of experimentally induced jealousy on support for feminine honor

Feminine honor norms require women to uphold a reputation for sexual purity through behaviors such as dressing modestly or maintaining virginity before marriage. While the consequences of these norms for women's health and well-being are well-documented, their socio-psychological origins remain poorly understood. The dominant account holds that feminine honor is endorsed because female infidelity threatens a male partner's honor. An alternative explanation–the ideological mate-guarding account–proposes that support for feminine honor is rooted in psychological motives related to mate guarding and is shaped by sexual jealousy and mating strategy. However, previous evidence for this account has been correlational and based on trait-level measures of jealousy. Here, we provide initial experimental evidence for this account by inducing state sexual jealousy, which was associated with increased support for feminine honor, particularly among men. Additionally, individuals with a more restricted mating orientation (lower socio-sexuality) showed greater support for feminine honor across genders, even after controlling for state masculinity threat, other honor norms (masculine, family, integrity), religiosity, political conservatism, and age. These findings highlight the importance of mating motives in shaping support for feminine honor and enrich our understanding of how evolved psychological mechanisms contribute to the maintenance of traditional gender norms.