Counterfactual thoughts distinguish benign and malicious envy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Upward counterfactual thinking, or imagining better personal outcomes, intensifies envy.
• Envy can manifest as benign envy (motivating self-improvement) or malicious envy (leading to hostility).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if specific counterfactual thoughts differentiate benign and malicious envy.
• To determine if eliciting particular counterfactual thoughts can promote corresponding envy types.

Main Methods:

• A meta-analysis of 8 studies (N=1,264) examined recalled envy episodes.
• A second meta-analysis of 6 studies (N=1,299) experimentally elicited counterfactual thoughts.

Main Results:

• Recalled benign envy episodes were associated with more self-focused counterfactuals.
• Recalled malicious envy episodes were linked to more other-focused counterfactuals.
• Eliciting self-focused counterfactuals promoted benign envy, while other-focused counterfactuals promoted malicious envy.

Conclusions:

• Specific counterfactual thought patterns distinguish benign and malicious envy.
• Cognitive processes underlying counterfactual thinking shape functionally divergent envious responses.
• Findings support functional accounts of counterfactual thinking and envy.