Benign envy and malicious envy: Relative deprivation, anomie, and perceived opportunity

Abstract

This research empirically supports the distinction between two types of envy, benign and malicious envy, that have culturally specific terms in South Asian culture. The results supported hypotheses that the two types of envy are related to different motivations and behavioral intentions. Study 1 demonstrated that antecedents of benign envy and malicious envy led to distinct theoretically predicted patterns of feelings, thoughts, and action tendencies in a Pakistani sample. Study 2 showed that the culturally specific terms for benign and malicious envy are related to similar patterns responses of ‘moving up’ and ‘pulling down’ intentions, respectively. Benign envy was related to intentions to work hard on the comparison dimension. Further, blocked opportunity on the comparison dimension influenced intentions to work hard on alternative performance dimensions when benign envy was low rather than high, supporting our contention that benign envy is a conformist attitude, in the sense of the acceptance of goals and means, that promotes strong internal motivation. On the other hand, blocked opportunity qualified the relationship between malicious envy and behavioral ‘pulling down’ intentions of derogating envied other. Study 3 replicated the results of study 2 in a field sample.