\u201cAre you really going to buy her a brand-new car?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was Kate\u2019s (name changed for privacy) response when she learned that her younger sister would be driving a new car while she drove an old \u201cbeat-up boat,\u201d as her peers lovingly referred to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her parents had a long list of reasons why they were buying her sister a car but it didn\u2019t help Kate to feel any less jealous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jealousy is a normal human experience, but it\u2019s important to get a handle on it. A recent study in the Journal of Family Psychology<\/a> found that strained family relationships rooted in jealousy can cause health issues and chronic illnesses to worsen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne way of thinking about jealousy or envy between siblings is that we think we are competing for limited resources or status. If my sibling gets more attention from dad, then I get less. Or if my brother is making more money than me then I may feel that I am inferior,\u201d says Dr. Robert L. Leahy<\/a>, a psychologist, and author of the book, The Jealousy Cure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Leahy explains that our emotions are based on the past when resources were scarce, and life was competitive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the past people in society with higher dominance or status often experienced higher self-esteem, better access to valued food and shelter, and better access to sexual partners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often people use the words jealousy and envy interchangeably, but the words have different meanings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJealousy involves competition for the affection of a valued person. Envy refers to someone doing better than I am doing at something that I value. Jealousy involves three people and envy is about your position in a status hierarchy,\u201d says Dr. Leahy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n