M. Nieweg

When people fall from grace: reconsidering the role of envy in Schadenfreude.

Previous research yielded conflicting results concerning the role of envy in predicting Schadenfreude (pleasure at anothers misfortune). Some studies showed that envy predicts Schadenfreude, whereas others did not. Results of the present research reconcile these opposing findings, by showing that envy is a predictor of Schadenfreude when the target is similar to the observer in terms of gender. These results suggest that envy predicts Schadenfreude when people are confronted with the misfortune of a relevant social comparison other.

Deservingness and Schadenfreude

The present study tested the hypothesis that Schadenfreude, pleasure at anothers misfortune, results when a misfortune is perceived as deserved. Participants responded to interviews in which information was provided about a student who suffered a misfortune. The male or female student had either high or average achievements and was either responsible or not responsible for the misfortune. Results showed that responsibility for the misfortune increased Schadenfreude and this effect was mediated by the perceived deservingness of the misfortune.