more likely than a male counterpart to announce that her companion is "taken" and go out of her way to enhance her appearance to her spouse. Self-blame Following infidelity, women are more likely to focus their sexual jealousy on their own relationship and self-blame. They are also more likely to experience symptoms of depression following the infidelity. Evidence for the interpretation that in jealousy situations women focus more on their own functioning as a partner comes from research by Dijkstra and Buunk (2002). This research suggests that unlike men's jealousy, women's jealousy stems more from comparing their own qualities with those of the rival. The higher the level of social comparison, a personality characteristic referring to the tendency to compare one's characteristics with those of others, the more jealousy various rival characteristics evoked. Expression in males Mate guarding behaviour One form of male sexual jealousy is mate guarding. This tactic is used to prevent partner infidelity and thus may be used when there are perceived threats in the environment. It results in several behaviours, and researchers have documented up to 19 different tactics used. This includes (but is not exclusive to): Violence (or at least hostility) directed towards competitors, Taking up all of the mate's time so that they have no time to meet other potential mates, Emotionally manipulating their mate, Increase their possession signals with jewelry, clothing, cars, etc., Enhancing their appearance (e.g. fixing their hair, clothing, etc.). Attachment style According to attachment theory, the quality of a child's interactions with caregivers during times of need shape their future interactions; this includes later relationships. Research has shown that insecure-avoidant individuals tend to report more sexual jealousy than those who are securely attached. This may be due to the fact that, in comparison to securely attached individuals, those who are insecurely attached tend to experience lower levels of trust, intimacy and stability in their romantic relationships. Evidence suggests that people who experience low self-esteem are much more afraid that their partner is dissatisfied and being unfaithful, which again increases the likelihood that they will experience sexual jealousy. Sex drive Sex drive, also known as libido, is the physiological need for sexual activity. Sex drive has been found to be a significant predictor of higher sexual jealousy in both men and women; those who had a higher sex drive showed greater distress at the idea of their partner committing sexual infidelity.