Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude (/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/; German: [ˈʃaːdn̩ˌfʁɔʏ̯də] ⓘ; lit.Tooltip literal translation "harm-joy") is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another.
[5] It is hypothesized that this inverse relationship is mediated through the human psychological inclination to define and protect their self- and in-group- identity or self-conception.
Conversely, for someone with low self-esteem, someone who is more successful poses a threat to their sense of self, and seeing this person fall can be a source of comfort because they perceive a relative improvement in their internal or in-group standing.
Epicaricacy is a seldom-used direct equivalent,[7] borrowed from Greek epichairekakia (ἐπιχαιρεκακία, first attested in Aristotle[8]) from ἐπί epi 'upon', χαρά chara 'joy', and κακόν kakon 'evil'.
[9][10][11][12] Tall poppy syndrome is a cultural[13] phenomenon where people of high status are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticized because they have been classified as better than their peers.
[14] Morose delectation (Latin: delectatio morosa), meaning "the habit of dwelling with enjoyment on evil thoughts",[15] was considered by the medieval church to be a sin.
[26] The correct form would be Freudenschaden, since the pseudo-German coinage incorrectly assumes the n in Schadenfreude to be an interfix and the adjective schade ("unfortunate") a noun.
Displeasure at another's good fortune is Gluckschmerz, a pseudo-German word coined in 1985 as a joke by the pseudonymous Wanda Tinasky; the correct German form would be Glücksschmerz.
The phrase Xing zai le huo (Chinese: 幸災樂禍) first appeared separately as xing zai (幸災), meaning the feeling of joy from seeing the hardship of others,[34] and le huo (樂禍), meaning the happiness derived from the unfortunate situation of others,[35] in the ancient Chinese text Zuo zhuan (左傳).
[40] During the seventeenth century, Robert Burton wrote: Out of these two [the concupiscible and irascible powers] arise those mixed affections and passions of anger, which is a desire of revenge; hatred, which is inveterate anger; zeal, which is offended with him who hurts that he loves; and ἐπιχαιρεκακία, a compound affection of joy and hate, when we rejoice at other men's mischief, and are grieved at their prosperity; pride, self-love, emulation, envy, shame, [etc.
[44] Rabbi Harold S. Kushner in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People describes schadenfreude as a universal, even wholesome reaction that cannot be helped.
[citation needed] Philosopher and sociologist Theodor Adorno defined schadenfreude as "... largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another, which is cognized as trivial and/or appropriate.
The results of this study indicated that the emotion of schadenfreude is very sensitive to circumstances that make it more or less legitimate to feel such malicious pleasure toward a sports rival.
[49] A 2011 study by Cikara and colleagues using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examined schadenfreude among Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees fans, and found that fans showed increased activation in brain areas correlated with self-reported pleasure (ventral striatum) when observing the rival team experience a negative outcome (e.g., a strikeout).
[50] By contrast, fans exhibited increased activation in the anterior cingulate and insula when viewing their own team experience a negative outcome.
The study was designed to measure empathy by watching which brain centers are stimulated when subjects observed via fMRI see someone experiencing physical pain.
In 2014, research in the form of an online survey analyzed the relationship between schadenfreude and 'Dark Triad' traits (i.e. narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy).
