When Your Gain Is My Pain and Your Pain Is My Gain: Neural Correlates of Envy and Schadenfreude

We often evaluate the self and others from social comparisons. We feel envy when the target person has superior and self-relevant characteristics. Schadenfreude occurs when envied persons fall from grace. To elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of envy and schadenfreude, we conducted two function...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2009-02, Vol.323 (5916), p.937-939
Main Authors: Takahashi, Hidehiko, Kato, Motoichiro, Matsuura, Masato, Mobbs, Dean, Suhara, Tetsuya, Okubo, Yoshiro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Basal ganglia
Basal Ganglia - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Emotional distress
Emotions
Envy
Experimental psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gyrus Cinguli - physiology
Happiness
Humans
Jealousy
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Misfortune
Neurology
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Pain - psychology
Protagonists
Research grants
Reward
Self Concept
Social Behavior
Social comparison
Social Perception
Social sciences
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Young Adult
Z score
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Summary:We often evaluate the self and others from social comparisons. We feel envy when the target person has superior and self-relevant characteristics. Schadenfreude occurs when envied persons fall from grace. To elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of envy and schadenfreude, we conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. In study one, the participants read information concerning target persons characterized by levels of possession and self-relevance of comparison domains. When the target person's possession was superior and self-relevant, stronger envy and stronger anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation were induced. In study two, stronger schadenfreude and stronger striatum activation were induced when misfortunes happened to envied persons. ACC activation in study one predicted ventral striatum activation in study two. Our findings document mechanisms of painful emotion, envy, and a rewarding reaction, schadenfreude.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1165604