According to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, men had lower self-esteem when their spouses or girlfriends were more successful than them. (Via KCTV)
To be fair, it's not because men don't want them to be successful. According to researchers, men saw their partners' success as their own failure. (Via WDAF)
The New York Daily News reports in one of the scenarios, men were told how their girlfriends did on a test, either scoring in the top or bottom 12 percent.
“How their girlfriends performed didn’t affect men’s reported self-esteem — what they told researchers — but when given a test to determine how they felt subconsciously, it was clear men whose partners performed well experienced a drop in self-worth.”
Time reports men in the Netherlands were also analyzed because there is almost an equal number of men and women in the workplace. However, their results were similar to those of American men. When their wife or girlfriend succeeded, their self-esteem went down.
Further research shows it doesn't matter if it's social, personal or even intellectual success — a man generally gets a bruised ego. (Via WVUE)
As for women, their self-esteem wasn't affected much when their partner succeeded. If it did change, researchers say females saw their self-esteem go up as they found themselves proud of their partners. (Via The Gloss)
But the author of the study makes clear men don't want their partners to fail. She said the results make sense because men tend to be more competitive. (Via Daily Mail)
- See more at Newsy.com
About the Author
