Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Outline

Title
Abstract
Key Takeaways
Figures
Introduction
Case Conceptualization
Conclusions
References
All Topics
Psychology
Cognitive Science

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Envy

Profile image of Robert LeahyRobert Leahy

2020, Cognitive Therapy and Research

https://doi.org/10.1007/S10608-020-10135-Y
visibility

…

description

10 pages

link

1 file

Abstract

Envy is a ubiquitous social emotion often associated with depression, hostility and shame. Often confused with jealousy which involves the fear or anger that a primary relationship is threatened by a third party, envy is an emotion focused on threats to status such that another person’s “gain” is viewed as a “loss” for the self. There is very little in the cognitive behavioral literature on the nature and treatment of envy. In this article I outline the research on the nature of envy, the evolutionary model of envy, the relevance of an integrative CBT model that draws on Beck’s Generic Cognitive Model and Emotional Schema Therapy, and the implications for case conceptualization and treatment.

Key takeaways
sparkles

AI

  1. Envy, a complex emotion, can manifest in three styles: hostile, depressive, and benign.
  2. Integrative CBT models can effectively address envy by normalizing and validating the emotion.
  3. Envy is linked to social comparison, often exacerbated by perceived status threats and cultural expectations.
  4. The evolutionary model highlights envy as a motivator for status competition and survival advantages.
  5. A case study illustrates the application of CBT techniques in transforming envy into motivation for personal growth.
Figures (6)
Table 1 Categorizing and examining envious thoughts
Table 1 Categorizing and examining envious thoughts
Table 2 Maladaptive assumptions and adaptive alternative depression and rumination, the therapist identified his envy as a central vulnerability. The evolutionary model was explained, balancing the universal desire for higher status in a dominance hierarchy with a “fairness motive” that rewards should be equitable. In addition, the therapist normalized his envy, indicating that a universal emotion is not something that one should feel guilty or ashamed about. Moreover, the experience of being passed over, which gave rise to envy and a sense of defeat, was related to his early childhood experience of feeling humiliated and left out of groups of other children, which was now inter- preted as based on the fact that the other children thought he was smarter and, ironically, because of their hostile envy, excluded him from the group. His core schema was that he was not good enough to be included and his schema about others was that they were rejecting. Rather than reduce his identity to “I am an envious per- son”, we differentiated his self-concept as one of many emotions, thoughts, achievements, values and possible action. We identified several of his maladaptive strategies including rumination, self-criticism, and avoidance and targeted each for treatment. Rumination was treated with meta-cognitive techniques (setting aside time for rumi- nation, attentional training, detached mindfulness), self- criticism was addressed with standard cognitive techniques (evidence for and against, double-standard, examining
Table 2 Maladaptive assumptions and adaptive alternative depression and rumination, the therapist identified his envy as a central vulnerability. The evolutionary model was explained, balancing the universal desire for higher status in a dominance hierarchy with a “fairness motive” that rewards should be equitable. In addition, the therapist normalized his envy, indicating that a universal emotion is not something that one should feel guilty or ashamed about. Moreover, the experience of being passed over, which gave rise to envy and a sense of defeat, was related to his early childhood experience of feeling humiliated and left out of groups of other children, which was now inter- preted as based on the fact that the other children thought he was smarter and, ironically, because of their hostile envy, excluded him from the group. His core schema was that he was not good enough to be included and his schema about others was that they were rejecting. Rather than reduce his identity to “I am an envious per- son”, we differentiated his self-concept as one of many emotions, thoughts, achievements, values and possible action. We identified several of his maladaptive strategies including rumination, self-criticism, and avoidance and targeted each for treatment. Rumination was treated with meta-cognitive techniques (setting aside time for rumi- nation, attentional training, detached mindfulness), self- criticism was addressed with standard cognitive techniques (evidence for and against, double-standard, examining
realize that his envy could be abated if he challenged his negative thoughts, accepted the situation for now, and focused on other goals. His shame about the emotion was addressed by normalizing envy, relating envy to evolution- ary factors and socialization, and reframing envy as an emotion that could be turned into a positive (that is, emu- lation, motivation to improve, learning). Finally, he was able to step away from an over-focus on “status” within the system to develop a complex “Life Portfolio” of valued action including being a father, husband, son, member of a charitable organization, someone who was constantly learning, hobbies that he valued, and other valued action. discounting the positives, over-generalizing and labeling), “unfairness” was treated with acceptance and commitment to positive goals such as forming alliances, obtaining feed- back for how to improve his performance, using the target of envy as a role-model of success (turning envy into emu- lation), and developing a “business plan” for success by using problem solving, focus on positive goals, and man- aging upwards. Each of his emotional schema beliefs were examined and challenged including beliefs about duration (his envy was fluid and came and went during the day), controllability (he could both accept the envy for now but
realize that his envy could be abated if he challenged his negative thoughts, accepted the situation for now, and focused on other goals. His shame about the emotion was addressed by normalizing envy, relating envy to evolution- ary factors and socialization, and reframing envy as an emotion that could be turned into a positive (that is, emu- lation, motivation to improve, learning). Finally, he was able to step away from an over-focus on “status” within the system to develop a complex “Life Portfolio” of valued action including being a father, husband, son, member of a charitable organization, someone who was constantly learning, hobbies that he valued, and other valued action. discounting the positives, over-generalizing and labeling), “unfairness” was treated with acceptance and commitment to positive goals such as forming alliances, obtaining feed- back for how to improve his performance, using the target of envy as a role-model of success (turning envy into emu- lation), and developing a “business plan” for success by using problem solving, focus on positive goals, and man- aging upwards. Each of his emotional schema beliefs were examined and challenged including beliefs about duration (his envy was fluid and came and went during the day), controllability (he could both accept the envy for now but
Table 4 Maladaptive strategies and alternative perspectives
Table 4 Maladaptive strategies and alternative perspectives
An integrative cognitive behavioral model provides the clinician with a systematic roadmap for case con- ceptualization and strategic interventions. This includes assisting clients in recognizing the sources of envy that are beyond one’s control including evolutionary, cultural and socialization factors, the advantage in accepting the experience of envy rather than attempt to suppress it or feel ashamed about it, a method to develop a plan to turn envy into admiration and even into emulation, strategies to reduce avoidance, sabotaging others, or giving up, tech- niques to address the ruminative aspects of envy, methods to identify and modify automatic thoughts, maladaptive assumptions and personal and interpersonal schemas, and techniques to examine and address unhelpful beliefs about the emotion of envy.
An integrative cognitive behavioral model provides the clinician with a systematic roadmap for case con- ceptualization and strategic interventions. This includes assisting clients in recognizing the sources of envy that are beyond one’s control including evolutionary, cultural and socialization factors, the advantage in accepting the experience of envy rather than attempt to suppress it or feel ashamed about it, a method to develop a plan to turn envy into admiration and even into emulation, strategies to reduce avoidance, sabotaging others, or giving up, tech- niques to address the ruminative aspects of envy, methods to identify and modify automatic thoughts, maladaptive assumptions and personal and interpersonal schemas, and techniques to examine and address unhelpful beliefs about the emotion of envy.

Related papers

Envy: Everyday and Everywhere
Sue Cowan-Jenssen

Psychotherapy and Politics International, 2011

In psychoanalysis the concept of envy describes a specific defence within an object relational structure that denies the subjectivity, need and entitlement of the other and is the antithesis of gratitude and satisfaction. Yet how far is envy both a representation of a psychological structure which is pathological and a culturally generated phenomenon? Should we not take into account the forces that amplify envy when considering the pathology of our 'envious' clients? With reference to social and political dynamics and a clinical vignette, this paper will consider whether envy can be as much a social disease as a psychopathology that requires psychotherapeutic treatment. It will look at three main areas. What are the conditions in our society that increase envious reactions? What are the economic and social consequences of envy, both negative and positive, and what of our own envy in relation to our colleagues and clients?

View PDFchevron_right
Envy and its Objects
Alessandra Fussi

Envy and its Objects, 2019

The paper critically discusses the thesis, originally put forth by Taylor (2006), that there is a (mostly benign) form of envy whose target is the good possessed by someone else. Section 2 analyzes the distinction between object-envy and state-envy, discusses the connection between object-envy and benign envy, and develops the ethical consequences that follow from the thesis that envy is never benign. Section 3 presents a thought experiment with five variations developed from the basic elements of object-envy: an agent, a good the agent desires but lacks, and a person who possesses the good. The variations generate emotions like longing, sadness, happiness for, admiration, covetousness, self-disappointment, but they do not generate envy. Section 4 concentrates on envious self-reproach and shows that its nature and genesis are different from the self-disappointment one may experience in other forms of self-assessment. Section 5 argues that the so-called sour-grape syndrome serves different goals when it is connected to a good one lacks and when it is connected to envious comparisons. Section 6 maintains that what looks like benign envy can be better understood as emulous admiration. In conclusion, the paper argues that object-envy is not a useful concept. The desired goods are not valued in themselves when a person feels envy. Rather, they are taken to signal the superior recognition enjoyed by someone else within the reference group that is currently deemed important by the agent.

View PDFchevron_right
The Matrix of Envy in Our Social and Sexual Lives
Rahim Thawer

Medium.com, 2022

View PDFchevron_right
Cohen-Charash, Y. (2009). Episodic envy. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 2128-2173.
Yochi Cohen-Charash

Episodic envy, the unpleasant emotion resulting from a specific negative social comparison, is discussed. A new measure designed to assess it is developed, validated, and cross-validated in 3 studies. The implications of episodic envy are also examined. Results show that episodic envy is composed of a feeling component and a comparison component; and is different from unfairness, admiration, and competition. The feeling component is strongly correlated with negative emotional reactions (anxiety, depression, negative mood, hostility) and behavioral reactions (e.g., harming the other, creating a negative work atmosphere) to envy. The comparison component is correlated with behaviors intended to improve one’s position in the organization. Episodic envy predicts reactions to envy above and beyond dispositional envy.jasp_519

View PDFchevron_right
The Role of Subjective and Objective Social Status in the Generation of Envy
Manuel Galvan

Frontiers in Psychology, 2020

Envy is a negative emotion experienced in response to another person’s higher status. However, little is known about the composition of its most important element: status. The present research investigates the two main forms of social status (objective and subjective) in the generation of envy. In Study 1, participants recounted real-life situations when they felt envious; in Study 2 we examined whether the effect was the same in a controlled situation. We consistently found that those who were the most respected in the eyes of others were envied more than the richest ones. Furthermore, perceived deservingness of the superior other’s success differentiated between benign and malicious envy. Although previous studies focused on material comparisons when investigating envy, our results indicate that envy is rather a subjective social status related emotion. Not material, but social advantage of the superior other causes the most painful envy and future studies should put more emphasis...

View PDFchevron_right
The correlative relationship of envy with personal characteristics
Gulmira Baykunusova

European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine , 2020

Maqolada masofaviy ta'lim olayotgan talabalar uchun psixologik tavsiyalar keltirilgan. Ushbu mutaxassis tavsiyalari talabalarning bilim, ko'nikma va malakalarni mustaqil o'zlashtirishlariga yordamlashadi.

View PDFchevron_right
Conceptualization and Treatment of Psychoanalytic Envy through a Kleinian/Bionian Lens
Maia Kolchin-Miller

Envy, like so much in psychoanalytic thought, occupies something of a transitional space between concept and experience. Colloquially, envy is often used to mean something similar to (but worse than) jealousy. Psychoanalytically, the concept/phenomenon/experience is far more complex, however; it is something for which there are many causes and for which there can be no material cure. In this theoretical study of psychoanalytic envy, the work of Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion are used to develop a conceptualization of envy and formulate recommendations for clinical work with the “envious patient.” Case material is used to synthesize their two approaches to practice. A Kleinian/Bionian lens may help clinicians to better understand and more effectively work with patients who are struggling to soften their shame and guilt, more fully integrate their capacities for love and hate, grieve losses and a lack of early containment, and, ultimately, build up a strong internal world from which to draw in their continued development.

View PDFchevron_right
I fear your envy, I rejoice in your coveting: On the ambivalent experience of being envied by others.
Alejandra Hurtado de Mendoza Casaus

Journal of Personality …, 2010

We present 2 studies on being envied. Study 1 used an emotional narrative methodology. We asked 44 Spanish (23 women, 21 men) and 48 European American (36 women, 12 men) participants to tell us about a recent experience in which others envied them. We classified the antecedents, relationship context, markers of envy, coping strategies, and positive and negative implications of being envied. In Study 2, 174 Spanish (88 women, 86 men) and 205 European American (106 women, 99 men) participants responded to a situation in which they had something someone else wanted. We manipulated the object of desire (academic achievement or having "a better life"). We measured individual differences in orientation to achievement (i.e., vertical individualism), cooperation and interpersonal harmony (i.e., horizontal collectivism), a zero-sum view of success, beliefs that success begets hostile coveting, fear of success, and dispositional envy. We also measured participants' appraisals, positive and negative emotions, and coping strategies. The findings from both studies indicate that being envied has both positive (e.g., increased self-confidence) and negative consequences (e.g., fear of ill will from others). Being envied had more positive and more negative psychological and relational consequences among those participants who were achievement oriented (European Americans) than among participants who were oriented to cooperation and interpersonal harmony (Spanish).

View PDFchevron_right
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Jealousy
Dennis Tirch

International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 2008

Jealousy is a multidimensional cognitive, emotional, behavioral and interpersonal phenomenon. Jealousy can be a destructive and often dangerous emotional and interpersonal response to threats to a valued relationship. Despite the importance of jealousy as an issue for couples, there has been relatively little attention to this problem. Jealousy is a form of angry, agitated worry, whose goal is to anticipate and avoid surprise and betrayal. A meta-emotional model is described, emphasizing the normalization of jealous emotion, distinguishing between "feeling" and "acting on" jealousy and linking jealousy to emotional processing, intolerance of uncertainty and thought fusion. Mindfulness and acceptance based approaches can be used that emphasize cultivating a capacity to distance and de-center from disturbing thoughts and feelings, overcoming attempts at experiential avoidance that may amplify jealousy, disrupting thought-reality fusion, and establishing a non-judgmental observing stance, from which adaptive behaviors may proceed.

View PDFchevron_right
Young children's understanding of envy : Precursors of young children's understanding of self-conscious emotions: envy across cultures
Encarnacion Sarria

Psyke & Logos, 2012

Experiencing envy is an intrinsic part of social comparison of possessions, characteristics or qualities among people or groups. The persons involved in this social comparison are sometimes flattered or, on the contrary, sometimes damaged. When social comparisons lead to negative feelings and people are faced with the lack of a desired good (an item/object) or a trait, they may experience anger, helplessness or inferiority. Hence, some authors have stressed that envy could cause hostility towards the person envied (Miceli & Castelfranchi, 2007; Smith & Kim, 2007; Shoeck, 1966). At times, envy is disguised as contempt; sometimes it manifests itself through open aggression, harassment, sabotage or a threat in order to compensate for a lower social position. At times the envious person may attack by diminishing the pleasure or joy of the person envied (

View PDFchevron_right

References (36)

  1. Anderson, C., Hildreth, J. A. D., & Howland, L. (2015). Is the desire for status a fundamental human motive? A review of the empiri- cal literature. Psychological Bulletin, 141(3), 574.
  2. Anderson, J. R., Bucher, B., Chijiiwa, H., Kuroshima, H., Taki- moto, A., & Fujita, K. (2017). Third party social evaluations of humans by monkeys and dogs. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 82, 95-109.
  3. Appel, H., Gerlach, A. L., & Crusius, J. (2016). The interplay between Facebook use, social comparison, envy, and depres- sion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 9, 44-49.
  4. Barrett, L. F., Mesquita, B., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2007). The experience of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 373-403.
  5. Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. A. (2014). Advances in cognitive theory and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10, 1-24.
  6. Brosnan, S. F., & de Waal, F. B. (2014). Evolution of responses to (un)fairness. Science, 346(6207), 1251776.
  7. Cohen-Charash, Y., & Mueller, J. S. (2007). Does perceived unfair- ness exacerbate or mitigate interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors related to envy? Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy, 92(3), 666.
  8. Dryden, W. (2003). Overcoming envy (Overcoming common prob- lems). London: Sheldon Press.
  9. Ekman, P. (1992). Are there basic emotions? Psychological Review, 99(3), 550-553. https ://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.99.3.550.
  10. Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life. Times Books/ Henry Holt and Co.
  11. Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7(2), 117-140.
  12. Fiske, S. T. (2010). Envy up, scorn down: How comparison divides us. American Psychologist, 65(8), 698-706. https ://doi. org/10.1037/0003-066X.65.8.698.
  13. Fiske, S. T. (2011). Envy up, scorn down: How status divides us. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  14. Frijda, N. H. (1988). The laws of emotion. American Psychologist, 43(5), 349-358.
  15. Gilbert, P., & Allen, S. (1998). The role of defeat and entrapment (arrested flight) in depression: An exploration of an evolution- ary view. Psychological Medicine, 28, 585-598.
  16. Hill, S. E., & Buss, D. M. (2006). Envy and positional bias in the evolutionary psychology of management. Managerial and Deci- sion Economics, 27, 131-143.
  17. Hill, S. E., & Buss, D. M. (2008). The evolutionary psychology of envy. In R. H. Smith (Ed.), Envy: Theory and research (pp. 60-70)., Series in affective science New York: Oxford Univer- sity Press.
  18. Hill, S. E., DelPriore, D. J., & Vaughan, P. W. (2011). The cognitive consequences of envy: Attention, memory, and self-regulatory depletion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 653. Izard, C. E. (2009). Emotion theory and research: Highlights, unan- swered questions, and emerging issues. Annual Review of Psychol- ogy., 60, 1-25. https ://doi.org/10.1146/annur ev.psych .60.11070 7.16353 9.
  19. Lange, J., & Crusius, J. (2015). Dispositional envy revisited: Unrave- ling the motivational dynamics of benign and malicious envy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(2), 284-294.
  20. Leahy, R. L. (2015). Emotional schema therapy. New York: Guilford Publications.
  21. Lindholm, C. (2008). Culture and envy. In R. Smith (Ed.), Envy: The- ory and research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  22. Lindquist, K. A., & Barrett, L. F. (2008). Constructing emotion: The experience offear as a conceptual act. Psychological Science, 19, 898-903.
  23. Mazur, A. (1985). A biosocial model of status in face-to-face primate groups. Social Forces, 64(2), 377-402.
  24. Oatley, K., & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1987). Towards a cognitive theory of emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 1(1), 29-50.
  25. Parrott, W. G. (1991). The emotional experiences of envy and jeal- ousy.
  26. In P. Salovey (Ed.), The psychology of jealousy andenvy (pp. 3-30). New York: Guilford Press.
  27. Plutchik, R. (2001). The nature of emotions. American Scientist, 89(4), 344-350.
  28. Quintanilla, L., & de Lopez, K. J. (2013). The niche of envy: Conceptu- alization, coping strategies, and the ontogenesis of envy in cultural psychology. Culture & Psychology, 19(1), 76-94.
  29. Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Social status and health in humans and other animals. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, 393-418.
  30. Sapolsky, R. M. (2005). The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Science, 308(5722), 648-652.
  31. Schoeck, H. (1969). Envy: A theory of social behavior. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.
  32. Sell, A., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2009). Formidability and the logic of human anger. PNAS, 106(35), 15073-15078.
  33. Van Dijk, W. W., Ouwerkerk, J. W., Goslinga, S., Nieweg, M., & Gal- lucci, M. (2006). When people fall from grace: Reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude. Emotion, 6(1), 156.
  34. van de Ven, N., Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2012). Appraisal pat- terns of envy and related emotions. Motivation and Emotion, 36(2), 195-204. https ://doi.org/10.1007/s1103 1-011-9235-8.
  35. van de Ven, N., Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2009). Leveling up and down: The experiences of benign and malicious envy. Emotion, 9(3), 419-429. https ://doi.org/10.1037/a0015 669.
  36. van de Ven, N., Zeelenberg, M., & Pieters, R. (2011). Why envy out- performs admiration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(6), 784-795.

Related papers

The role of self-esteem in the experience of envy
Diane Barth

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1988

As a growing number of psychoanalysts turn away from traditional driveconflict and object-instinctual explanations of human dynamics, it becomes necessary to find alternative ways of thinking about behavior previously understood from these perspectives. Envy is one of the emotions in need of such a reexamination. Traditional explanations of envy pay little attention to the role of self-esteem in the development of the emotion and the defenses against it, despite the fact that most authors who write about it seem to recognize that narcissistic needs and issues of self-esteem frequently arise in connection with envy. Little has actually been written about envy as a whole since Klein's (1957) masterful exposition on the subject, although various authors have explored components of the emotion. Freud focused on the concept of penis envy rather than more generalized envy. Homey discussed the concepts of penis envy (1939) and vindictiveness (1948), and Rosenfeld (1971) wrote about the envyrelated wish to destroy both self and object. Eichenbaum and Orbach (1983) have explored the meaning of competitiveness for women, and Rosner (1985) has written about sibling rivalry. Chasseguet-Smirgel (1974) has proposed a theory in which envy is seen as a necessary component of healthy development, and Joffe (1969) and Moulton (1970) have written fine critical reviews of the theories of envy and penis envy, respectively. Chodorow (1978) reviewed the concept of penis envy in relation to female development. While almost all of these authors have observed that narcissistic needs and/or narcissistic injury arise in conjunction with envy, only Homey (1939) paid active attention to the significance of self-esteem in the development of envy. Envy is a complex emotion, involving such traditionally difficult-to-manage feelings as rage, destructive hostility, greed, and shame. It seldom occurs in isolation, but instead is usually an aspect of a more complex set of dynamics operating in an individual. Add to this the awareness that envy, whether

View PDFchevron_right
Cognitive behavioural responses to envy: development of a new measure
Cheryl Jordan

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 2019

Background: Envy is depicted as motivating destructive desires and actions intended to spoil or destroy that which is envied. Aim: To develop a new valid and reliable measure of malicious envy (C-BRES), which included items representing the cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses empirically associated with this emotion. Method: A total of 203 adults completed the new 22-item cognitive and behavioural responses to envy scale (C-BRES). Exploratory factor analysis was carried out to test for reliability and internal consistency of the C-BRES. Evidence towards the concurrent construct validity (convergent and discriminant) of the C-BRES was assessed through correlations with the Dispositional envy scale and other measures of psychosocial outcomes empirically linked to envy. Results: Factor analysis for categorical data identified five dimensions of envy, namely: injustice, hostility, malicious action tendencies, malicious feelings and behavioural responses. The reliability indic...

View PDFchevron_right
Envy – an Unwanted, yet Unavoidable and Necessary Emotion
Andrea Milić

Psihologijske teme

Envy is a word signifying an emotion that arises from social comparison and signals that one is outperformed by another person, or group of people, which makes one feel painful inferiority. It originates from the Latin "invidere" which means to "gaze maliciously". Yet, this emotion does not want to be communicated. It is hard to identify or admit it, partly because of a range of other negative emotions, such as hostility, resentment and rejection that accompany envious feelings. Envy may also trigger admiration that motivates one to "do better". However, subjective, historical and philosophical accounts overwhelmingly speak of its negative consequences. Not surprisingly, envy is regarded as a social taboo. Even the traditional scientific community considers envy as a "second class" emotion. It is said that envy does not meet the criteria for basic emotions. Only recently, with the paradigmatic shift in modern evolutionary psychology, a new fra...

View PDFchevron_right
The niche of envy: Conceptualization, coping strategies, and the ontogenesis of envy in cultural psychology
Laura Quintanilla

Culture & Psychology, 2013

Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it responds to the worries that gnaw at them and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanings and their greed until they believe these to be virtues.—Carlos Ruiz Zafón “The niche of envy” is a cross-disciplinary attempt to capture and understand the complex and self-conscious emotion of envy as unfolded within social relationships and cultural settings. One of our main interests concerns how children come to understand envy in ontogenesis. Accordingly, we review existing theoretical approaches to understanding envy and introduce preliminary data about children’s understanding of envy. This paper consists of three sections. In the first section, we define envy by introducing the conditions and components that form part of it. We emphasize the fact that envy is a complex and embodied emotion, which embraces a triadic relationship, social comparison, and inequality. In this section, we also introduce social...

View PDFchevron_right
The Cognitive Consequences of Envy: Attention, Memory, and Self-Regulatory Depletion
Sarah Hill

In a series of 4 experiments, we provide evidence that-in addition to having an affective componentenvy may also have important consequences for cognitive processing. Our first experiment (N ϭ 69) demonstrated that individuals primed with envy better attended to and more accurately recalled information about fictitious peers than did a control group. Studies 2 (N ϭ 187) and 3 (N ϭ 65) conceptually replicated these results, demonstrating that envy elicited by targets predicts attention and later memory for information about them. We demonstrate that these effects cannot be accounted for by admiration or changes in negative affect or arousal elicited by the targets. Study 4 (N ϭ 152) provides evidence that greater memory for envied-but not neutral-targets leads to diminished perseverance on a difficult anagram task. Findings demonstrate that envy may play an important role in attention and memory systems and deplete limited self-regulatory resources available for acts of volition.

View PDFchevron_right

Related topics

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
    • 580 California St., Suite 400
    San Francisco, CA, 94104
    © 2025 Academia. All rights reserved