Search

Schadenfreude (pleasure about another’s misfortune) was studied using written scenarios that were manipulated to include elements that elicited disliking of the target, envy of the target, and/or deservingness of the misfortune. This was the first time all the three predictors were included in a single study, allowing for a test of their possible interactive effects. Study 1 created a large pool of scenarios based on a pilot study and had participants rate them regarding how much disliking, deservingness, or envy was felt. The eight scenarios that were most effective in eliciting the various combinations of predictors were then used in Study 2 to test for schadenfreude reactions. Results revealed strong main effects for disliking and deservingness. Interactions showed that disliking attenuated the effect of deservingness, especially for female participants. Finally, further evidence was found that malicious but not benign envy predicted schadenfreude.

This study sought to investigate how individual differences are related to schadenfreude (pleasure derived from another’s misfortune) by replicating past findings and extending them to additional personality traits. Because most past research on schadenfreude has relied heavily on the use of reactions to hypothetical scenarios, an attempt was made to demonstrate external validity by also including a reaction to a live event (confederate misfortune). For the scenarios, schadenfreude was positively correlated with the Dark Triad and just world beliefs; negatively correlated with empathy and agreeableness; and uncorrelated with dispositional envy, self-esteem, or the remaining Big Five traits. For the live event, no personality traits were correlated with schadenfreude, suggesting responses to hypothetical situations may not be representative of real-life schadenfreude events.

People are more likely to experience schadenfreude, i.e., take pleasure in the misfortunes of another, if they do not like the person experiencing the downfall. In the current study, the roles of liking and agency (being the cause of the downfall vs a passive observer) were investigated using a live (rather than hypothetical) situation for participants to react to. Participants were exposed to a rude, neutral, or nice confederate who won a coveted prize. Participants were then put into a position to either cause the confederate to lose her prize, or to only passively observe it happen. Feelings of schadenfreude were strongest when participants were the agent of a rude other's downfall. Implications for incorporating aspects of this study into future research were discussed.