Experiential content and appraisal pattern associated with benign and malicious envy in university students of Cordoba, Argentina

Abstract

Envy has been regarded an unpleasant experience characterized by the wish that the envied person is impaired. Recent studies conducted in other countries evidence the existence of a qualitatively different envy, named benign. People who experience benign envy assess the situation as inspiring and are motivated to improve. Thus, in this research we evaluated the experiential content and appraisal patterns of benign and malicious envy in a sample of undergraduate students from Cordoba, Argentina. The day reconstruction method was used to recover information about envy. Results evidenced that two types of envy are experienced at the local context, which are distinguished considering the following items: deservingness, own power and situational state. Furthermore, it was observed that the experience of benign envy triggers inspiration and motivates congratulate to the envied person.