How is childhood maltreatment linked to benign envy/malicious envy? The mediating role of self-esteem, authentic pride and hubristic pride.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role of pride and self-esteem in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and benign envy/malicious envy in Chinese college students. One thousand fifty-one Chinese college students completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Authentic and Hubristic Pride-Proneness Scale and the Benign and Malicious Envy Scale, and the significance test of mediating variables was performed. Self-esteem and hubristic pride independently mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and benign envy/malicious envy, authentic pride only played a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and benign envy. More importantly, the model indicated that childhood maltreatment could influence benign envy/malicious envy through the chain mediating path of 'authentic pride-self-esteem' and 'hubristic pride-self-esteem'. Authentic pride, hubristic pride and self-esteem might be the possible mechanisms through which childhood maltreatment influences benign envy/malicious envy in adulthood. This study provides insights into the role of pride and self-esteem in the childhood maltreatment-benign (malicious) envy link from the perspective of the learned helplessness theory. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.