Chapter 2 - Varieties of Envy

Summary

Envy can either motivate to push oneself up to the level of the envied, or to pull the envied down to one’s own level. This leveling orientation has been explained in two ways. The first explanation focuses on the role of perceived control over the outcome: when the envier thinks they can level up, they will feel benign envy; when they think they cannot can level up, they will feel malicious envy. The second explanation is grounded in the notion of focus of concern: when the envier is concerned about the envied good, they are motivated to get it, and thus to level up; when they are concerned about their inferiority with the envied rival, they are motivated to take them down, and thus to level down. This chapter shows that these models of explanation need not be incompatible. The variables at play are independent and their intersection is responsible for the existence of four kinds of envy. It illustrates a paradigmatic case for each, providing a detailed analysis of the phenomenology, situational determinants, motivational structure, and typical behavioral outputs, and explains how they differ from nearby emotions and attitudes such as admiration, covetousness, and spite.