Envy

For other uses, see Envy (disambiguation).

Emotions
Basic
Anger Fear Sadness Happiness Disgust Interest
Others
Acceptance Affection Aggression Ambivalence Annoyance Apathy Anxiety Boredom Compassion Compersion Confusion Contempt Curiosity Depression Disappointment Doubt Ecstasy Empathy Envy Embarrassment Euphoria Forgiveness Frustration Gratitude Grief Guilt Hatred Hope Horror Hostility Homesickness Hunger Hysteria Jealousy Loneliness Paranoia Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Remorse Revenge Shame Suffering Surprise Sympathy Vanity v • d • e

Betrand Russell said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness (Russell, 1930, pg. 82). It is a universal and most unfortunate aspect of human nature because not only does the envious person wish to inflict misfortune on others, but is also rendered unhappy by his envy.

Envy may be defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it."Parrott, W. G., & Smith, R. H. (1993). Distinguishing the experiences of envy and jealousy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 906-920.

Envy can be a neutral emotion, e.g. "I envied my fiancee\'s laptop, and saved to get one of my own."

It 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 him or her who had the desired object.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.

Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell(1930, p. 90-91)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. The tendency to feel envy seems to be present in all cultures Foster, G. M. (1972). The anatomy of envy: A study in symbolic behavior. Current Anthropology, 13, 165-202.Schoeck, H. (1969). Envy: A theory of social behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World..

Contents 1 Envy and jealousy 2 Envy in philosophy 3 Envy in the arts 4 Envy in religion 5 See also 6 External links 7 Further reading 8 References

Envy and jealousy

Envy and jealousy are distinct emotions. In its correct 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 in philosophy

Aristotle (in Rhetoric) defined envy "as the pain caused by the good fortune of others", 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).

Envy in the arts

In some 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.

Envy in religion

Envy is one of the Seven deadly sins of the Catholic Church.

The book of Exodus (20:17) states:

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his."

Perhaps today the donkey (ass) corresponds to a car, but it could represent anything desirable owned by another. The donkey cannot be readily stolen as it would be obvious. However being envious of the donkey as a possession is to be avoided, as it could lead to ungodly thoughts or deeds toward the neighbour or the donkey.

It\'s important to make the distinction between desiring something someone else has, and envying them because of something they have. Envy relates to negative feelings toward a person because of something they own.

See also

• Competition
• Resentment
• Spite (sentiment)

External links

Look up envious in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

Further reading

Epstein, Joseph. (2003) Oxford University Press, N.Y.

Russell, Bertrand. The Conquest of Happiness. Liverwright, N.Y., 1930. Pgs. 82-94.

Schoeck, H. (1969). Envy: A theory of social behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

References

v • d • e Emotions
Basic	Anger · Fear · Sadness · Happiness · Disgust · Interest
Other	Alertness · Acceptance · Affection · Ambivalence · Angst · Annoyance · Anticipation · Anxiety · Apathy · Awe · Resentment (Bitterness) · Boredom · Calmness · Compassion · Contempt · Contentment · Confusion · Depression · Disappointment · Doubt · Ecstasy · Embarrassment · Emptiness · Enthusiasm · Envy · Epiphany · Euphoria · Fanaticism · Frustration · Gratification · Gratitude · Grief · Guilt · Hatred · Homesickness · Hope · Horror · Humiliation · Interest · Inspiration · Jealousy · Limerence · Loneliness · Love · Lust · Melancholia · Panic · Patience · Pity · Pride · Rage · Regret · Remorse · Repentance · Righteous indignation · Schadenfreude · Self-pity · Shame · Shyness · Sympathy · Suffering · Surprise · Wonder

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