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Envy (also called invidiousness) is best defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it."^[1]

Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been he or she who had the desired object.^[2]^[3]

Bertrand Russell said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness.^[4] It is a universal and most unfortunate aspect of human nature because not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but also wishes to inflict misfortune on others. Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell also believed that envy was a driving force behind the movement towards democracy and must be endured in order to achieve a more just social system.^[5]

In psychology

Envy and narcissists

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are often envious of others or believe others are envious of him or her.^[6]

Envy, jealousy and schadenfreude

"Envy" and "jealousy" are often used interchangeably, but in correct usage, they stand for two different distinct emotions. In proper usage, jealousy is the fear of losing something that one possesses to another person (a loved one in the prototypical form), while envy is the pain or frustration caused by another person having something that one does not have oneself. Envy typically involves two people, and jealousy typically involves three people. It is possible to be envious at more than one individual at any given time. Usually envy involves wanting the beauty, wealth, or socioeconomic status of another individual. Envy and jealousy result from different situations and are distinct emotional experiences.^[7] Both envy and jealousy are etymologically related to schadenfreude, the rejoicing at, or taking joy in, or getting pleasure from the misfortunes of others.^[8]^[9]

In philosophy

Aristotle (in Rhetoric) defined envy (φθόνος phthonos) "as the pain caused by the good fortune of others",^[10]^[11] while Kant defined it as "a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another's because the standard we use to see how well off we are is not the intrinsic worth of our own well-being but how it compares with that of others" (in Metaphysics of Morals). In Buddhism the third of the four divine abidings is mudita, taking joy in the good fortune of another. This virtue is considered the antidote to envy and the opposite of schadenfreude.

In the arts

In Britain, the United States and other English-speaking cultures, envy is often associated with the color green, as in "green with envy". The phrase "green-eyed monster" refers to an individual whose current actions appear motivated by envy. This is based on a line from Shakespeare's Othello. Shakespeare mentions it also in The Merchant of Venice when Portia states: "How all the other passions fleet to air, as doubtful thoughts and rash embraced despair and shuddering fear and green-eyed jealousy!" Envy is known as one of the most powerful human emotions for its ability to control one as if envy was an entity in itself. Countless men and women have fallen prey to brief periods of intense envy followed by anger which then translates into aggression. One of the most common examples is a pair of lovers in which a secret love is discovered and can lead to sorrow, then intense envy, and eventually anger and aggression.

In religion

Envy is one of the Seven deadly sins of the Christian Church. The Book of Exodus Exo 20:17Template:Bibleverse with invalid book states: "You shall not covet your neighbor house; you shall not covet your neighbor wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

In Islam, envy (Hassad in Arabic) can destroy one's good deeds^{[citation needed]}. Therefore, one must be content with what God has given to them by saying Maashallah (God has willed it)^{[citation needed]}.

References

^ Parrott, W. G., & Smith, R. H. (1993). And belongs to Ami. Distinguishing the experiences of envy and jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 906-920.
^ Salovey, P., & Rodin, J. (1984). Some antecedents and consequences of social comparison jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 780-792.
^ Elster, J. (1991). Envy in social life. In R. J. Zeckhauser (Ed.), Strategy and choices(pp. 49-82). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
^ Russell, Bertrand (1930). The Conquest of Happiness. New York: H. Liverwright.
^ Russell(1930), p. 90-91
^ Narcissistic personality disorder - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000)
^ Smith, Richard H. and Kim, Sung Hee. Psychological Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 133, No. 1, 46-64.
^ Bailey, Nathan (1737). Universal Etymological English Dictionary. London. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Bailey, Nathan (1751). Dictionarium Britannicum. London. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Pedrick, Victoria (2006). The Soul of Tragedy: Essays on Athenian Drama. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-65306-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ 2.7.1108b1-10

External links

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

[Parrott,Smith,1993-1] Parrott, W. G., & Smith, R. H. (1993). And belongs to Ami. Distinguishing the experiences of envy and jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 906-920.

[Salovey,Rodin,1984-2] Salovey, P., & Rodin, J. (1984). Some antecedents and consequences of social comparison jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 780-792.

[Elster,1991-3] Elster, J. (1991). Envy in social life. In R. J. Zeckhauser (Ed.), Strategy and choices(pp. 49-82). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[4] Russell, Bertrand (1930). The Conquest of Happiness. New York: H. Liverwright.

[5] Russell(1930), p. 90-91

[6] Narcissistic personality disorder - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000)

[7] Smith, Richard H. and Kim, Sung Hee. Psychological Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 133, No. 1, 46-64.

[8] Bailey, Nathan (1737). Universal Etymological English Dictionary. London. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[9] Bailey, Nathan (1751). Dictionarium Britannicum. London. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[Pedrick-10] Pedrick, Victoria (2006). The Soul of Tragedy: Essays on Athenian Drama. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-65306-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[11] 2.7.1108b1-10

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v t e Emotions (list)
Emotions	Acceptance Admiration Adoration Aesthetic Affection Agitation Agony Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Attraction Awe Belongingness Boredom Calmness Compassion Confidence Confusion Contempt Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Defeat Depression Desire Disappointment Disgust Distrust Doubt Ecstasy Embarrassment vicarious Emotion work Empathy Emptiness Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Faith Fear Flow Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Joie de vivre Hatred Hiraeth Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hygge Hysteria Ikigai (sense of purpose) Indulgence Infatuation Insecurity Inspiration Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Joy Kindness Loneliness Love limerence at first sight Lust Mono no aware Neglect Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity self-pity Pleasure Pride grandiosity hubris insult vanity Rage Regret Rejection Relief Remorse Resentment Revenge Sadness melancholy Saudade Schadenfreude Sehnsucht Sentimentality Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Spite Stress chronic Suffering Surprise Sympathy Trust Wonder sense of wonder Worry
Worldviews	Cynicism Defeatism Fatalism Misanthropy Nihilism Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Weltschmerz
Related	Affect consciousness in education measures in psychology Affective computing forecasting neuroscience science spectrum Affectivity positive negative Appeal to emotion Amygdala hijack Emotion and art and memory and music and sex and sleep classification evolution expressed functional accounts group homeostatic in animals perception recognition in conversation regulation interpersonal work Emotional aperture bias blackmail competence conflict contagion detachment dysregulation eating exhaustion expression and gender intelligence and bullying Empathy quotient intimacy isolation lability labor lateralization literacy prosody reasoning responsivity security symbiosis thought method well-being Emotionality bounded Emotions and culture history in decision-making in the workplace in virtual communication moral self-conscious social social sharing sociology Feeling Group affective tone Interactions between the emotional and executive brain systems Jealousy in art Meta-emotion Pathognomy Pathos Social emotional development Stoic passions Theory affect appraisal constructed emotion discrete emotion somatic marker
Italics indicate emotion names in foreign languages

v t e Narcissism
Similar personality concepts	Egomania Egotism God complex Healthy narcissism Hubris Machiavellianism Messiah complex Narcissus (mythology) Superiority complex
In society	Collective narcissism Don Juanism In the workplace Leadership Me generation Parents
Pathological narcissism	Narcissistic personality disorder history Dark triad Malignant narcissism Manipulation (psychology) Narcissistic injury neurosis elation mortification supply withdrawal Narcissistic Personality Inventory
Related psychology concepts	Compensation Empathy Entitlement Grandiosity
Category