When people fall from grace: Reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude.

Dijk, Wilco W. van; Ouwerkerk, J.W.; Goslinga, Sjoerd; Nieweg, M.; Gallucci, Marcello

doi:10.1037/1528-3542.6.1.156

Cited by 180 publications

(181 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Research on schadenfreude has shown this malicious joy to be evoked by the downfall of high achievers, especially when they are envied or resented (Feather & Sherman, 2002;Smith et al, 1996;Van Dijk, Ouwerkerk, Goslinga, Nieweg, & Gallucci, 2006). But are high achievers always an easy prey for schadenfreude, or are there circumstances that mitigate this emotion when they fall from grace?…”

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confidence: 99%

The Impact of Deservingness on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

Dijk

Ouwerkerk

Goslinga

2009

The Journal of Social Psychology

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ABSTRACT. The authors tested the hypothesis that people experience less schadenfreude and more sympathy toward high achievers with deserved achievements who suffer misfortunes as opposed to those with undeserved achievements. The results support the hypothesis and show that this effect is mediated by the perceived deservingness of the misfortune.Keywords: deservingness, emotion, schadenfreude, sympathy WHEN PEOPLE LEARN OF THE ADVERSITIES of high achievers, they usually find it hard to resist a little smile; this pleasure derived from another's misfortune is referred to by the German word schadenfreude. Research on schadenfreude has shown this malicious joy to be evoked by the downfall of high achievers, especially when they are envied or resented (Feather & Sherman, 2002 Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ww.van.dijk@psy.vu.nl (e-mail). Replications and RefinementsUnder this heading are brief reports of studies providing data that substantiate, challenge, or refine what we think we know. These notes consist of a summary of the study's procedure and as many details about the results as space allows. Additional details concerning the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the author. Submissions to this section must provide a meaningful conceptual replication that extends the construct validity of the work.

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confidence: 99%

The Impact of Deservingness on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

Dijk

Ouwerkerk

Goslinga

2009

The Journal of Social Psychology

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“…These empirical studies showed that schadenfreude is more likely to occur when misfortunes happen to high achievers, tall poppies (Feather, 1993(Feather, , 1994, or people who are envied (Smith et al, 1996;Van Dijk, Ouwerkerk, Goslinga, Nieweg, & Gallucci, 2006), disliked (Hareli & Weiner, 2002;Van Dijk et al, 2006), or resented (Feather & Sherman, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

Impact of Responsibility for a Misfortune on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

Dijk

Goslinga

Ouwerkerk

2008

The Journal of Social Psychology

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ABSTRACT. The authors tested the hypothesis that the more individuals are responsible for their own misfortune, the more schadenfreude (i.e., pleasure derived from another's misfortune) and less sympathy the misfortune evokes in others. The results support the hypothesis, thereby providing further evidence for the role responsibility plays in emotional reactions to the misfortunes of others.Keywords: deservingness, emotion, responsibility, schadenfreude, sympathy WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO OTHER PEOPLE reactions can take several forms. In his seminal book The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Heider (1958) distinguished two possible emotional reactions of a person (P) to the misfortune of others (O). First, P can experience sympathy when a negative Replications and RefinementsUnder this heading are brief reports of studies providing data that substantiate, challenge, or refine what we think we know. These notes consist of a summary of the study's procedure and as many details about the results as space allows. Additional details concerning the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the author. Submissions to this section must provide a meaningful conceptual replication that extends the construct validity of the work.

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“…In this sense, envy cannot have positive characteristics, and if it has, it is not envy. Miceli and Castelfranchi (2007) van Dijk, Ouwerkerk, Goslinga, Nieweg, and Gallucci (2006) found that envy predicted schadenfreude beyond hostile feelings, indicating that the conflicting results of earlier studies cannot depend of the use of hostile feelings in the assessment of envy. Both envy and hostile feelings had their own individual contribution to the experience of schadenfreude.…”

Section: The Difference Between Envy Jealousy and Schadenfreudementioning

confidence: 91%

“…Feather and Sherman (2002), Hareli and Weiner (2002) and Leach and Spears (2008) failed to find a relation between envy and schadenfreude. Other researchers found a positive relation between the two concepts (e.g., Brigham et al 1997;van Dijk et al, 2006). Feather and Sherman suggested that resentment about another's undeserved success rather than envy that predicted schadenfreude.…”

Section: The Difference Between Envy Jealousy and Schadenfreudementioning

confidence: 98%

Why you and not me? Expressions of envy in Sweden and Indonesia

Adrianson¹,

Ramdhani²

2014

IJRSP

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The purpose of the present study was to describe experience of envy in two different cultures, Indonesia and Sweden. Envy is a feeling that most people have experienced and mostly regards as shameful. The concept relates to a variety of feeling that shows its complexity. The result shows that envy had a wider meaning in the Indonesian language than in Swedish, and consisted of emotional words that were rare among the Swedish respondents. The Swedish respondents' descriptions were, with few exceptions, connected to a malicious (ill will) meaning while it was obvious that the Javanese respondents used also the concept of benign envy (without ill will). Jealousy and envy seemed to overlap each other more in Bahasa Indonesia than in the Swedish use of the words. The latter had a distinct word for schadenfreude that was lacking in Bahasa Indonesia. For the Swedish respondents, wanting to have what another person possesses was a central element of envy, for example prosperity or competence. The Javanese respondents stressed relationships, achievements and personal characteristics' as main causes for envy. Both the Swedish and Javanese respondents reported that a person who they knew and with whom they had an established relationship, such as a friend or a fellow student, had envied them and the causes for this were about the same as their own.

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When people fall from grace: Reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude.

Cited by 180 publications

References 24 publications

The Impact of Deservingness on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

The Impact of Deservingness on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

Impact of Responsibility for a Misfortune on Schadenfreude and Sympathy: Further Evidence

Why you and not me? Expressions of envy in Sweden and Indonesia

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