Subjective Injustice and Inferiority as Predictors of Hostile and Depressive Feelings in Envy

Abstract

Two hypotheses concerning the hostile and depressive components of envy were tested: that hostile feelings are associated with a subjective belief that the envy-producing difference is unfair and that depressive feelings are associated with a sense of inferiority evoked by the envied person's advantage. Subjects wrote autobiographical accounts of experiences of envy and then indicated how unfair (in both a subjective and an objective sense) they believed the envied person's advantage was, how inferior the advantage made them feel, and how hostile and depressed they felt. Multiple regression analysis generally supported the hypotheses. Hostile feelings were predicted by subjective injustice beliefs and objective injustice beliefs but not by inferiority beliefs. Depressive feelings, however, were predicted largely by inferiority beliefs but also by subjective injustice beliefs. Envy, especially in its typically hostile form, may need to be understood as resulting in part from a subjective, yet robust, sense of injustice.