Abstract
In the last 5 years, the phrase “politics of envy” has appeared more than 621 times in English-language newspapers, generally in opinion essays contending that political liberalism reflects and exploits feelings of envy. Oddly, this assertion has not been tested empirically. We did so with a large adult sample (n = 357). Participants completed a Dispositional Envy Scale and questions about political ideology, socioeconomic status, and age. Envy and age were moderately correlated; younger people reported greater envy. Political ideology and envy were weakly correlated; however, this relationship was not significant when controlling for age.
Highlights
A vast number of writers have contended that liberal political doctrines reflect and appeal to enviousness on the part of voters
An exact definition of envy is rarely offered in these writings, but what is clearly implied is that envy involves wanting what another has and negative feelings and resentment over the greater success or material wealth of others, which fuels a desire to see some of that advantage taken away from those more fortunate
The results provide some evidence for the common claim that there is some relationship between political liberalism and enviousness
Summary
A vast number of writers have contended that liberal political doctrines reflect and appeal to enviousness on the part of voters. The view of liberalism as a politics of envy has been advocated in numerous opinion essays, and in several booklength treatments (e.g., de la Mora, 1987; Bandow, 1994) and is not a uniquely US phenomenon (e.g., a headline in the United Kingdom’s Guardian on 29 August 2012 was, “Nick Clegg wealth tax ‘the politics of envy,’ says senior Tory”). It is remarkable, that there appear to be no published empirical data on the question of whether political ideology has the often-assumed relationship to people’s susceptibility to envy
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