Envy (also called invidiousness) is best defined as a resentful emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, experience or possession and wishes that the other lacked it."^[1]

Bertrand Russell said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness.^[2] Not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but they also wish to inflict misfortune on others. Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell also believed that envy was a driving force behind the movement towards democracy and must be endured to achieve a more just social system.^[3] However, psychologists have recently suggested that there may be two types of envy: malicious envy and benign envy - benign envy being proposed as a type of positive motivational force.^[4][5]

Socioevolutionary view of envy [link]

Invidia, allegorical painting by Giotto di Bondone, ca. 1305-1306

One theory that helps to explain envy and its effects on human behavior is the Socioevolutionary theory. Based upon (Charles) Darwin’s (1859) theory of evolution through natural selection, socioevolutionary theory predicts that humans behave in ways that enhance individual survival and also the reproduction of their genes. Thus, this theory provides a framework for understanding social behavior and experiences, such as the experience and expression of envy, as rooted in biological drives for survival and procreation.^[6] Recent studies have demonstrated that inciting envy actually changes cognitive function; boosting mental persistence and memory.^[7]

Envy, jealousy, and schadenfreude [link]

"Envy" and "jealousy" are often used interchangeably, but in standard usage they stand for two distinctly different emotions.^[1] Jealousy is the result or fear of losing someone or something that one is attached to or possesses to another person (the transfer of a lover's affections in the typical form), while envy is the resentment caused by another person having something that one does not have, but desires for oneself.^[8] In its simplest form, then, envy involves two people, and jealousy three people,^[8] but of course it is possible to be envious of more than one individual at any given time. Envy may involve wanting the beauty, wealth, abilities or socioeconomic status of another individual or group. Jealousy relates to that which I hold dear and wish to conserve; envy to that thing which I desire for myself, or would wish to deny my rival. Therefore we say that an academic is "jealous" of his theories (which might be overturned and thus "taken away" by his detractors), or that a government functionary is jealous of his prerogatives. "Schadenfreude" means taking pleasure in the misfortune of others, and so might be considered an outgrowth of envy in certain situations.

Envy regarding possessions or status [link]

Jheronimus Bosch, The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things (Invidia)

Oftentimes, envy involves a motive to “outdo or undo the rival’s advantages".^[9] In part, this type of envy may be based on materialistic possessions rather than psychological states. Basically, people find themselves experiencing an overwhelming emotion due to someone else owning or possessing desirable items that they do not. For example, your next door neighbor just bought a brand new ocarina — a musical instrument you’ve been infatuated with for months now but can’t afford. Feelings of envy in this situation would occur in the forms of emotional pain, a lack of self-worth, and a lowered self-esteem/well-being.

In Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.'s Old Money, he states that "envy is so integral and painful a part of what animates human behavior in market societies that many people have forgotten the full meaning of the word, simplifying it into one of the symptoms of desire. It is that [(a symptom of desire)], which is why it flourishes in market societies: democracies of desire, they might be called, with money for ballots, stuffing permitted. But envy is more or less than desire. It begins with the almost frantic sense of emptiness inside oneself, as if the pump of one's heart were sucking on air. One has to be blind to perceive the emptiness, of course, but that's what envy is, a selective blindness. Invidia, Latin for envy, translates as "nonsight," and Dante had the envious plodding along under cloaks of lead, their eyes sewn shut with leaden wire. What they are blind to is what they have, God-given and humanly nurtured, in themselves".^[10]

Overcoming envy [link]

Envy may negatively affect the closeness and satisfaction of relationships. Overcoming envy might be similar to dealing with other negative emotions (anger, resentment, etc.). Individuals experiencing anger often seek professional treatment (anger management) to help understand why they feel the way they do and how to cope. Subjects experiencing envy often have a skewed perception on how to achieve true happiness. By helping people to change these perceptions, they will be more able to understand the real meaning of fortune and satisfaction with what they do have. According to Lazarus, "coping is an integral feature of the emotion process".^[11] There are very few theories that emphasize the coping process for emotions as compared to the information available concerning the emotion itself.

There are numerous styles of coping, of which there has been a significant amount of research done, for example, avoidant versus approach. Coping with envy can be similar to coping with anger. The issue must be addressed cognitively in order to work through the emotion. According to the research done by Salovey and Rodin (1988), "more effective strategies for reducing initial envy appear to be stimulus focused rather than self-focused.".^[12] Salovey and Rodin (1988) also suggest "self-bolstering (e.g., "thinking about my good qualities") may be an effective strategy for moderating these self-deprecating thoughts and muting negative affective reactions".^[12] Further research needs to be done in order to better understand envy, as well as to help people cope with this emotion.

Narcissists [link]

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are often envious of others or believe others are envious of him or her.^[13]

A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.^[14]

In philosophy [link]

Aristotle (in Rhetoric) defined envy (φθόνος phthonos) "as the pain caused by the good fortune of others",^[15][16] while Kant defined it as "a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another's because the standard we use to see how well off we are is not the intrinsic worth of our own well-being but how it compares with that of others" (in Metaphysics of Morals).

In Hinduism [link]

One who does not envy but is a compassionate friend to all ... such a devotee is very dear to Me. - Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verse 15.

The eternal soul falls into the material sphere and undergoes repeated birth and death in a cycle of ignorance because of envying Krishna (the Supreme Personality of Godhead). Envy is thus the root source of all subsequent sins and the cause of continued "maya", or suffering in illusion. The conditioned soul gives up envy by regulated activities under the direction of the guru, or spiritual master.

In Hinduism, envy is a disastrous emotion. Hinduism maintains that anything which causes the mind to lose balance with itself leads to misery. This was displayed in the epic Mahabharata wherein the chief villain, Duryodhana launches the Kurukshetra war because of the prosperity of his cousins. He is known to have remarked "Father! The prosperity of the Pandavas (cousins) is burning me deeply! I cannot eat, sleep or live in the knowledge that they are better off than me!" Hinduism debates that envy can be handled by understanding that he/she is enjoying the fruits of their past karmic actions and that one should not allow such devious emotions to take control of the mind or else one would end up in the situation as the antagonist of the Mahabharata.

In Christianity [link]

In the Bible [link]

The Seven Deadly Sins - Envy, by Jacques Callot

Envy is one of the Seven deadly sins of the Catholic Church. In the Book of Genesis envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.

A ruining flesh sin [link]

Envy is a sin of flesh.^[17] Envy (evil eye) is among the things that come from the heart, defiling a person.^[18] The whole body is full of darkness when the eye, the lamp of body, is bad.^[19] ,He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished, said Solomon.^[20] Envy ruins the body health because it makes the bone rot^[21] and excludes us from inheriting the kingdom of God.^[22] Sometimes, as a punishment, God leaves some people in their sins, falling prey to envy and other heavy sins.^[23]

Universal and profound sin [link]

The basis of all toil and all skill of the people^[24] (we always choose our job because we want the wealthy, fame and pleasures we see at the others's job around us), envy is, therefore, a sin deeply engraved in human nature.^[25] It appears (comes into being) when man lacks certain things, circumstance that exist when either he does not ask it from God or asks to spend it on his passions (pleasures).^[26]

Genesis and causes [link]

Envy may be cause by wealth^[27] (Isaac, envied of Philistines),^[28] by the brightness of wealth, power and beauty (Assyria kingdom envied of other kingdoms^[29] by political and military rising ( Saul eyed David from the moment he heard the women song of joy),^[30] fertility (Leah, envied of Rachel),^[31] social ascent (Joseph whom his brothers were jealous of),^[32] countless miracles and healings (the apostles envied of high priest and the Sadducees),^[33] popularity (Paul and Barnabas, envied of unfaithful Jewish from Antioch),^[34] the success of Christianization of many Thessalonians (Paul and Silas , envied of unfaithful Jews from Thessalonica),^[35] virtues and true power to heal, to make miracles and to teach people (Jesus envied of the chief priests) ^[36]

God will reward each according to his deeds [link]

Christians must not fall into the trap of envying of the wicked^{[37][38][39][40]} of the men of violence ^[41]of those who seem to have a happy, prosperous, untroubled life, but always be aware that God will reward each according to his deeds. The true Christian will be sure, as the psalmist the moment he enters the temple of God, that those bloated, with ,,pride as necklace’’ and ,,violence as garment’’ (clothing), which are stumbling block to the faith of ordinary people^[42], will fade like greens^[43], will be cut down quickly like the grass ", being thrown away and ruined the right time.^[44]

Happy for anyone saved [link]

Also, the Christians must not look with evil eye at the last converts to avoid therefore becoming the last ones, missing the kingdom of God.^[45] They should be happy for anyone saved, like Christ, who came to save the lost, as the shepherd seeking the lost sheep.^[46] Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, was among the lost ones and he succeeded in bringing salvation to him and to his house.^[47]

No good eating the envier’s bread [link]

It is no good eating the envier’s bread, nor desiring his delicacies, because he is like one who is inwardly calculating”, his heart is not with you” and so ,,you will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words”.^[48]

Envy and wisdom [link]

Sometimes arisen out of sophistry,^[49] envy cannot coexist with true and spiritual wisdom, but with false, earthly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom.^[50]

Struggle against envy [link]

Throwing away envy is a crucial condition in our path to salvation.^[51] Envy was seen by the Apostle Paul as a real danger even within the first Christian communities.^[52] Envy should remain a sin of the past, defeated by God teaching,^[53] which, as in the tenth commandment, forbids us from coveting our neighbour’s things, woman, and servants,^[54] and urges us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, as Apostle Paul said,^[55] and to love our neighbours as ourselves.^[56] Because brotherly, Christian love banishes definitively envy from our hearts.^[57]

In Islam [link]

In Islam, envy (Hassad in Arabic) can destroy one's good deeds.^{[citation needed]} Therefore, one must be content with what God has given to them by saying Maashallah (God has willed it).^{[citation needed]}

Muhammad said, “Do not envy each other, do not hate each other, do not oppose each other, and do not cut relations, rather be servants of Allah as brothers. It is not permissible for a Muslim to disassociate from his brother for more than three days such that they meet and one ignores the other, and the best of them is the one who initiates the salaam.” Saheeh al-Bukhaaree [Eng. Trans. 8/58 no. 91], Saheeh Muslim [Eng. Trans. 4/1360 no. 6205, 6210]

Where he wishes for himself a blessing like that which someone else has, without wanting it to be taken away from the other person. This is permissible and is not called hasad. Rather, it is called ghibtah.

"There is to be no envy except in two cases: (towards) a person to whom Allah has granted wisdom, and who rules by this and teaches it to the people, and (towards) a person to whom Allah has granted wealth and property along with the power to spend it in the cause of the Truth." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]

In Buddhism [link]

In Buddhism, the term irshya is commonly translated as either envy or jealousy. Irshya is defined as a state of mind in which one is highly agitated to obtain wealth and honor for oneself, but unable to bear the excellence of others.

The term mudita (sympathetic joy) is defined as taking joy in the good fortune of others. This virtue is considered the antidote to envy and the opposite of schadenfreude.

Cultural references [link]

In English-speaking cultures, envy is often associated with the color green, as in "green with envy". The phrase "green-eyed monster" refers to an individual whose current actions appear motivated by jealousy not envy. This is based on a line from Shakespeare's Othello. Shakespeare mentions it also in The Merchant of Venice when Portia states: "How all the other passions fleet to air, as doubtful thoughts and rash embraced despair and shuddering fear and green-eyed jealousy!"

Envy is known as one of the most powerful human emotions for its ability to control one as if envy was an entity in itself. Countless men and women have fallen prey to brief periods of intense envy followed by anger which then translates into aggression. One of the most common examples is a woman who is envious of another's beauty, such as in the fairy tale "Snow White," in which the evil stepmother is envious of Snow White's youth and beauty, and seeks to kill the young woman in order to once again be the "fairest of them all."

Bibliography [link]

• Bible, English Standard Version Revised, 1971
• Catholic Encyclopedia

See also [link]

References [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Envy

Further reading [link]

• Epstein, Joseph. (2003) Envy: The seven deadly sins. New York, Oxford University Press.
• Ninivaggi, F.J. (2010) "Envy Theory: Perspectives on the Psychology of Envy". Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Salovey, P. (1991) The Psychology of Jealousy and Envy
• Schoeck, H. (1969) Envy: A theory of social behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
• Smith, R.H. (2008) Envy: Theory and research. New York, Oxford University Press.
• Westhues, Kenneth (2004) The Envy of Excellence: Administrative Mobbing of High-Achieving Professors. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press.

External links [link]

Look up envious in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

v t e Emotions (list) Emotions Adoration Affection Agony Awe Amusement Anger Anguish Annoyance Anxiety Arousal Attraction Caring Compassion Contempt Contentment Defeat Dejection Depression Desire Despair Disappointment Disgust Ecstasy Embarrassment Empathy Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Fear Frustration Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hysteria Infatuation Insecurity Insult Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Loneliness Longing Love Lust Melancholy Neglect Optimism Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Remorse Resentment Sadness Sentimentality Shame Shock Sorrow Spite Suffering Surprise Sympathy Tenseness Thrill Revenge Wonder Worry Diligence Zest Worldviews Compatibilism Existentialism Fatalism Incompatibilism Metaphysics Nihilism Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Social justice Weltschmerz Source: Parrott, W. (2001), Emotions in Social Psychology, Psychology Press, Philadelphia.