When people fall from grace: Reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude.

It is suggested that envy predicts Schadenfreude when people are confronted with the misfortune of a relevant social comparison other when the target is similar to the observer in terms of gender.

Abstract

Previous research yielded conflicting results concerning the role of envy in predicting Schadenfreude (pleasure at another's misfortune). Some studies showed that envy predicts Schadenfreude, whereas others did not. Results of the present research reconcile these opposing findings, by showing that envy is a predictor of Schadenfreude when the target is similar to the observer in terms of gender. These results suggest that envy predicts Schadenfreude when people are confronted with the misfortune of a relevant social comparison other.