PhronesisWe apply the Displacement Framework to Pathological Jealousy (Othello Syndrome / Morbid Jealousy), formalizing it as W_jealousy — a relationship wrong attractor maintained by an unfalsifiable partner-infidelity belief that drives compulsive surveillance behaviors which paradoxically deepen rather than resolve jealous distress. The relationship ground state S⁰_relationship is defined as proportionate partner monitoring: jealousy arises in response to genuine infidelity cues, resolves when cues are absent, and remains bounded by proportionality to threat evidence.
W_jealousy is maintained by three interlocking mechanisms: the infidelity core belief that resists disconfirmation, the surveillance loop in which checking behavior generates anxiety rather than relief, and partner behavior changes elicited by the surveillance that are then reinterpreted as confirmation. Nine formal propositions cover: S⁰_relationship definition with proportionality condition (P1), W_jealousy self-reinforcing architecture (P2), the surveillance paradox — checking provides momentary reassurance followed by amplified D(ξ) requiring more checking (P3), the unfalsifiability problem structurally preventing return to S⁰ (P4), the violence escalation landscape — intimate partner violence risk, homicide as jealousy endpoint, and the Othello murder pattern (P5), neurobiological substrate including dopaminergic reward sensitization and OFC impairment (P6), comorbidity with alcohol use disorder as disinhibition layer (P7), CBT and ERP as return-path interventions targeting the surveillance loop (P8), and partner safety considerations as a required treatment component (P9).
The paper distinguishes normal jealousy, reactive jealousy (warranted response to actual infidelity), and pathological jealousy across the severity spectrum from overvalued idea to delusion.