Why does Jayne Fear Malcolm? (Psychology of)

I really had to think hard about who the heck Malcolm is...

Jayne has betrayed the crew on occasion, leading to very serious threads from Mal. Thats why Jayne isnt perfectly comfortable around Mal.

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A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

He knows Mal was on the front line during the war during some brutal battles and lived to tell about it... generally don't want to cross guys (or woman) with that background.

It's all part of storytelling. Using the big tough guy who's not afraid of anything and having him show fear towards something makes it clear to the audience that this is definitely something scary.

They did the same thing with Jayne and The Reavers. He's as afraid of them as everyone else is.

Psychology wise, yes, Mal is reasonable and fair. But Jayne also knows Mal will not hesitate to kick someone into an engine.

Let's be bad guys.

As others have said, it makes Mal look even more impressive in terms of being the wrong guy to cross. Exactly why this is the case is never really explored, because we don't get to see enough of their back stories and what, in particular, makes Jayne think Mal will actually carry out his threats - there must have been something pretty drastic that makes him realise Mal means what he says. Perhaps if the series had lasted longer, we would have seen this incident, but - well, we didn't.

Based on various scenes in the show and in the movie, Mal seems to have a berserk button that you don't want to come anywhere close to pushing.

Two words: moral authority. Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal oozes it - he's a natural leader. Not the best leader, not the smartest, but the natural one among this crew. Jayne lacks this quality and, without being able to articulate it, has a near-superstitious fear of power he doesn't understand or possess.

It's a good question. Honestly, Jayne staying on Serenity after some of the decisions Mal makes does not fit with his character. He cost Jayne a lot of money.

Given his characterization, he should have left the ship and looked for a more brutal crew. His background and goofiness at times does offset though. I think they should have given Jayne a military background like pretty much all mercenaries. Maybe having had him fight for the Alliance during the war. Doesn't make much sense that he wasn't drafted, wherever he was from.

Jayne would beat the shit the living shit of Mal in a fight without suspension of disbelief in effect. Baldwin is Animal Mother.