Schadenfreude

What is it?

• Schadenfreude is a German word which translates to the pleasure which is derived from the misfortune of others (Leach, Spears, Branscombe, & Doosje, 2003).
• The opposite reaction to what we would deem as normal or natural when we see someone who is suffering which would be sympathy (Heider, 1958)
• This feeling is typically seen as shameful or as a moral failing (Spurgin, 2015)
• People generally attempt to hide their feelings of schadenfreude

Social Comparison Theory

• Schadenfreude has its roots in Social Comparison Theory.
• Influenced by Festinger (1954), this theory states that we evaluate our abilities and opinions by comparing our views with others, and that we want people in similar groups to like us, so will change our wants and beliefs to match theirs (Myers, 2014)
• Also is described as social comparison evaluating our abilities and opinions by comparing ourselves to others (Myers, 2014)

Why do we feel this?

Feelings of schadenfreude are influenced by many different aspects including:

• Self-Evaluation
• Envy
• In-group Inferiority
• Personal Gain
• Deserved Misfortune
• Biological Components
• The role of Oxytocin
• Neural Correlates

Schadenfreude

References

Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human relations, 7(2), 117-140.

Lerner, M. J., & Miller, D. T. (1978). Just world research and the attribution processes: looking back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85(8), 1030-1051. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.85.5.1030

Pietraszkiewicz. A. (2013). Schdenfeude and just world belief. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65, 188-194. doi: 10.1111/ajpy.12020

Leach, C. W., Spears, R., Branscombe, N. R., & Doosje, B. (2003). Malicious pleasure: schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(5), 932-943. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.932

Louis, W. (2014). Group Influence. In Myer, D. G. (Eds.), Social Psychology (287). North Ride, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill

Smith, R. H., Powell, C. A. J., Combs, D. J. Y., & Schurtz. D. R. (2009). Exploring the when and why of schadenfreude. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(4), 530-546. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00181.x

van Dijk, W. W., Goslinga, O. S., Nieweg, M., & Gallucci, M. (2006). When people fall from grace: reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude. Emotion, 6(1), 156-160. doi: 10.1037/1528-.3542.6.1.156

Pleasure derived from the misfortune of others

Envy

Conclusion

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Motivation_and_emotion/Book/2015/Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a complex emotion which can have many levels to it (van Dijk, 2011). It has many underlying concepts which relate to Social Comparison Theory, especially when evaluating the role of self-evaluation and schadenfreude.

There are many layers and reasons as to why we would feel schadenfreude, including biological factors, feelings related to envy, in-group inferiority, competition, Deserved misfortune, and personal gain can all contribute.

It is an emotion that can be considered very innapropriate and unsavory, however we all experience it, it becomes more about when to express it.

Learning about schadenfreude can help us understand why we experience emotions such as this and can help to become more emotionaly aware which can in turn help us improve our emotional lives.

• Results have been contradictory with schadenfreude and envy
• van Dijk et al. (2006) investigated envy, and found that it was a factor in schadenfreude
• Has to be some form of link for comparison (e.g., Gender)
• students who were enviable of another student felt greater schadenfreude when the person they envied suffered a misfortune, compared with those who were not in the envy group in the experiment (Smith, et al., 2009)

In-Group Inferiority

• Refers to when an individual will recognise themselves as part of a group when they identify with them on some sort of level
• In-group inferiority refers to how people can feel pleasure at the misfortune of others in an in-group situation
• schadenfreude is only evident when a third party or situation is the one that causes the misfortune, meaning that schadenfreude cannot occur if the pleasure is experienced when you are the cause of another persons misfortune (Leach, et al., 2003)

Personal Gain

• schadenfreude can be a result of a personal gain (Smith, et al., 2009)
• They liken this to competition, where when you, or your team wins, you feel pleasure and this is ultimately in the suffering of the other team
• Also seen in politics
• This also ties in with the idea of in-group identification, as these examples of schadenfreude are mostly group based successes or failures

Deserved Misfortune

• When we feel that the misfortune that one has suffered is deserved, a feeling of pleasure is derived
• A form of karmic retribution and gives us a sense of equilibrium (Lerner, & Miller, 1978)
• This is also linked with hypocrisy (Smith, et al., 2009)
• Schadenfreude and deserved misfortune are correlated to a just world belief (Pietraszkiewicz, 2013)