Envy

Envy, although not included among the fundamental emotions, is of great importance in the affective life of individuals. Envy is a complex emotion that refers to values and self-image. In particular, at the root of envy are feelings of want, rivalry and a sense of inferiority. The trigger that originates is the desire to possess a good, a quality or a condition that imposes a confrontation between the subject, frustrated in his desire, and those who possess it.

Envy is, therefore, a feeling of animosity toward another person, or a group of people, that those who envy believe they possess something they believe they do not possess. Here we are referring to the feeling one feels towards a person who is credited with not being able to achieve his or her goals.

There is a fundamental difference between simple desire and envy because in envy the emotional component of rivalry with the other is essential: the existence of a good/condition possessed by others generates a sense of lack, inferiority and inadequacy in the subject. Therefore, the basis of envy is a lack, or rather, the perception of a lack, evidenced by a social confrontation; such a lack is often attributed to one's own personal deficiencies or can weaken one's image and, consequently, increase the sense of inferiority. Moreover, envy requires moral criteria, in the sense that it can be based on an idea of injustice and indignity towards the person who enjoys a good, a quality or a condition desired by him or her.

In literature there is agreement among scholars about the dynamics of rivalry and lack of envy: as I have written before, something and/or someone is envied because they would like to possess objects, qualities or conditions that are missing; however, there is disagreement about the function of envy. Or should this emotion be understood as completely negative because it motivates hostile and aggressive actions towards others and oneself or are there benevolent aspects that can result in useful attitudes towards the individual's goals?

According to Castelfranchi & Miceli, envy is based on hostility: those who do not achieve a desired goal suffer when they see that others are capable of achieving it and feel hostility towards those who cause it; another reason for hostility lies in the understanding that those who are envied present a goal as attainable, and this awareness of the feasibility of a goal on the part of others, but not on their own, leads to a self-evaluation of their own idea of themselves, which emerges as a loser from social confrontation.

Envy is often associated with emotions and feelings such as anger, contempt, admiration, indignation, self-esteem, and shame. In terms of the tendency to action and behavior, envy can lead to aggressive actions that are expressly aimed at harming the person you envy. Conversely, there may also be a passive attitude in which the struggle for the envied good is renounced and a general sense of self-confidence and self-pity prevails.

In general, the emotion of envy is something you don't like to admit and tends to be denied by those who try.

However, there would be positive meanings of envy, a "good" envy that would lead the person to better himself as a result of the perception of his lack of confrontation with the other. In the good envy is the existence of some positive mechanisms that lead the individual to confront the other to achieve their goals in a perspective of improvement. In this sense there can be a positive identification with the other. In this case, the feeling of speculative and co-present envy is admiration, at a time when, together with the recognition of the merits and qualities of others, there is no self-evaluation and the feeling of inferiority. Moreover, admiration is a sincere feeling that affirms the justice of possessing a good or a quality, while in envy there is often contempt and unworthiness of those who enjoy the envied condition.