The circular effects between adolescent anxiety and benign/malicious envy: evidence from a longitudinal study and...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Previous research indicates a strong association between anxiety and both benign and malicious envy.
• Empirical evidence on the predictive relationship between these constructs is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of benign/malicious envy on anxiety.
• To examine how anxiety influences benign/malicious envy.
• To explore these relationships from a developmental perspective in adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: A three-wave longitudinal survey of 998 adolescents examining trait anxiety and envy using cross-lagged panel analyses.
• Study 2: An experience-sampling study with 117 adolescents tracking state anxiety and envy using hierarchical linear models.

Main Results:

• Trait malicious envy and trait anxiety demonstrated a positive bidirectional relationship.
• Trait benign envy and trait anxiety exhibited negative reciprocity, indicating a circular effect.
• State-level findings in Study 2 were consistent with trait-level results.

Conclusions:

• Benign envy may serve as a buffer against anxiety.
• Malicious envy appears to exacerbate anxiety.
• The findings provide a framework for understanding the dynamic interplay between envy and anxiety during adolescence.