Envy and Schadenfreude

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that Schadenfreude, pleasure at the suffering of others, will result when an envied person experiences a misfortune, envy was created in subjects by asking them to watch a videotaped interview of a student who was made to appear either superior or average. An epilogue informed subjects that the student had suffered a recent setback. The envy created in subjects was found to enhance the likelihood that they would feel Schadenfreude on learning of this setback. In addition, dispositional envy predicted subjects' envy of the student, and this envy also mediated subsequent Schadenfreude. These results strongly support linking envy with Schadenfreude.

Malicious pleasure: Schadenfreude at the suffering of another group.

“…Although an examination of interpersonal emotion, R. H. Smith et al (1996) have shown schadenfreude to result from perceived inferiority in much the same way as Nietzsche suggested.…”

“…This is because greater interest in the domain increases the self-relevance of others' performance within the domain. Although focused on the interpersonal level, a number of emotion theories also propose that others' misfortunes in self-relevant domains promote schadenfreude (e.g., Lazarus, 1991;Ortony et al, 1988; R. H. Smith et al, 1996). Although not specifically concerned with intergroup schadenfreude, research in the social identity theory tradition is also consistent with this notion.…”

“…Showing that group-level factors explain intergroup schadenfreude above and beyond individual-level explanations should help establish schadenfreude as an intergroup phenomenon. Interestingly, research has shown individuals to vary in their propensity to enjoy others' suffering (see R. H. Smith et al, 1996;Leach, Iyer, & Irvin, 2000). Leach, Smith, and Garonzik (2000) have, in fact, shown people to differ in their propensity for interpersonal schadenfreude.…”

Playing prosocial video games increases empathy and decreases schadenfreude.

“…For instance, Batson and colleagues (Batson, Eklund, Chermok, Hoyt, & Ortiz, 2007) suggested that perceived need, imagining the other's perspective, and valuing the other's welfare are antecedents of empathy. With regard to schadenfreude, research has shown that perceivers are more likely to experience schadenfreude if the misfortune is perceived as deserved (Feather & Sherman, 2002), if the misfortune is befalling an envied person (Smith, Turner, Garonzik, Leach, Urch-Druskat, & Weston, 1996), or if the person befalling the misfortune is disliked (Hareli & Weiner, 2002). It thus may be that playing prosocial video games increases the accessibility of prosocial thoughts, which in turn evokes one of these direct antecedents of empathy and schadenfreude.…”

The Culture of Affluence: Psychological Costs of Material Wealth

“…Social psychologists have suggested, in fact, that misfortunes of the wealthy can evoke a malicious pleasure in others, for people in general feel some satisfaction in the downfall of those far more successful than they themselves are (a phenomenon labeled schadenfreude; see Brigham, Kelso, Jackson, & Smith, 1997;Feather & Sherman, 2002;Smith, 2000;Smith et al, 1996).…”