Are you territorial about your mate?

[Nomaken]

Several of my friends girlfriends that they've had have become quite territorial.  And I've seen it implied from many comedians that this happens to them too.  I also vaguely recall some stories of men being territorial about their girlfriends, so i'm not going to say it is a female only trait.

And by territorial I mean that you distrust your mate hanging around with people of the opposite gender, and/or you feel your mate should want think spending time with you should always take priority over them spending time with anyone else.

So for the people here who have mates(I always use the term mate because i dont want to imply the genders of the pair, and i dislike the term significant other, incase anybody is wondering) and for those of you who wanna guess how you'd behave with a future mate, how territorial are you with them?

I ask this partially because I'm curious, and partially because my friends have expressed that they find this quality extremely annoying(and i would agree with them), and i'm slightly afraid it is universal.

[purposefulinsanity]

When I was younger, yes I was- but I think that was because I was very lacking in self-confidence- I assumed he would find someone better than me.  Now, since my self-confidence as grown some, I'm not so much.  We've been through a lot and have such strong feelings for each other that I don't think that we would split up easily.   I also value time spent away from each other more than I did when I was younger.

[Callaway]

That is a really complicated question, Nomaken.  It depends.  I think it is a question of degree.

I have no problem with my husband spending some time alone with his friends of either gender.  His friends are mostly male but if he suddenly had a new female best friend and he wanted to spend a great deal of time with her rather than my daughter and me, and he called her all the time and started acting secretive about his conversations with her, then I would probably be concerned that he was becoming too emotionally attached to her.  I have seen things like this happen to people I have known and often the husbands were beginning affairs with the new female best friends when this happened.

[McGiver]

yes.

i pea on her everytime she gets out of the shower.
so the other males of the species know that she is spoken for.

[QuirkyCarla]

I get jealous pretty easily, but I probably wouldn't act territorial (except in my mind) because I wouldn't want to scare the dude off or just as bad, inflate his ego. 

[odeon]

I used to be, when I was younger.

[Lucifer]

i am, definitely.  low self esteem, and a massive rejection button, i reckon.

[thepeaguy]

I'll never, ever, ever succumb to that emotional trap -- because I don't need a relationship to validate my existence.

[Lucifer]

then you're fucking lucky.

[thepeaguy]

then you're fucking lucky.

Look on the bright side: At least you're better than me at other things.

I still like ya, witchy-woo. ^_^

[Nomaken]

I don't plan to fall into that emotional trap to validate my existence.  Eating haagen daas validates my existence.  I plan to fall into that trap for an assortment of other nifty benefits it provides.

[QuirkyCarla]

Like what?

[McGiver]

eating more haagan dazs chocolate-chocolate chip icecream.

[Nomaken]

Cuddling, emotional support, entertainment, curiosity, practical advice, hedonistic pleasure.

[purposefulinsanity]

I'll never, ever, ever succumb to that emotional trap -- because I don't need a relationship to validate my existence.

That's a bit of a patronising attitude don't ya think?