Abstract
We feel strong envy when the advantaged person is self-relevant. We usually sympathize when misfortunes happen to others, but sometimes feel pleasure, Schadenfreude, when envied persons fall from grace. To elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of envy and schadenfreude, 2 fMRI studies were performed. Study 1 revealed that when the target person's possession was superior and self-relevant, stronger envy and stronger anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation were induced. In study 2, stronger schadenfreude and stronger striatum activation were induced when misfortunes happened to envied persons.
