Table of Contents

1. Introduction to schadenfreude Wilco W. van Dijk and Jaap W. Ouwerkerk; Part I. Schadenfreude as a Justice-Based Emotion: 2. Morality and schadenfreude John Portmann; 3. Deservingness and schadenfreude N. T. Feather; 4. Hypocrisy and schadenfreude Caitlin A. J. Powell; Part II. Schadenfreude as a Comparison-Based Emotion: 5. The personal comparative concern in schadenfreude Aaron Ben-Ze'ev; 6. Empirical challenges to understanding the role of envy in schadenfreude Richard H. Smith, Stephen M. Thielke and Caitlin A. J. Powell; 7. Malicious envy and schadenfreude Niels van de Ven; 8. Schadenfreude and consumer behaviour Jill M. Sundie; 9. Striving for positive self-evaluation as a motive for schadenfreude Wilco W. van Dijk and Jaap W. Ouwerkerk; Part III. Schadenfreude as an Intergroup Phenomenon: 10. Stereotypes and schadenfreude Mina Cikara and Susan T. Fiske; 11. Schadenfreude in sports and politics: a social identity perspective D. Ryan Schurtz, David Combs, Charles Hoogland and Richard H. Smith; 12. Intergroup rivalry and schadenfreude Jaap W. Ouwerkerk and Wilco W. van Dijk; 13. Situating schadenfreude in social relations Colin Wayne Leach, Russell Spears and Anthony S. R. Manstead; Part IV. Schadenfreude and Related Phenomena: 14. Schadenfreude and laughter F. H. Buckley; 15. Schadenfreude and the desire for vengeance Elise C. Seip, Mark Rotteveel, Lotte F. van Dillen and Wilco W. van Dijk; 16. Schadenfreude and pouting John Portmann; Part V. Schadenfreude in Society, Language, and Literature: 17. Schadenfreude and social life: a comparative perspective on the expression and regulation of mirth at the expense of others Giselinde Kuipers; 18. Tracing down schadenfreude in spontaneous interaction: evidence from corpus linguistics Kurt Feyaerts and Bert Oben; 19. 'Smile not, however, I venture to repeat': schadenfreude in nineteenth-century American literature Diederik Oostdijk; 20. Schadenfreude, concluding notes Agneta H. Fischer.

Promotional Information

Why do we often enjoy other people's misfortune? This book provides a comprehensive summary of research on the emotion schadenfreude.

About the Author

Wilco W. van Dijk is Associate Professor of Psychology at Universiteit Leiden. Jaap W. Ouwerkerk is an Associate Professor of Communication Science at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

Reviews

'While the Germanic language is hardly the lingua franca of the modern world, the word 'schadenfreude' has become global coinage. This new international collection is a fascinating multidisciplinary exploration of an extremely problematic emotion - the pleasure at another's suffering - in a wide array of social contexts. It should be essential reading for social psychologists and those working in ethics where concerns of status, envy and justice render schadenfreude a widely felt emotion.' M. J. McNamee, Swansea University

'These fascinating, well-written essays represent a wide range of perspectives that provide deep insights into this intriguing and neglected emotion.' W. Gerrod Parrott, Georgetown University, Washington DC

'As this collection suggests, schadenfreude is a neglected phenomenon … The scholars who contribute to this volume represent eight disciplines in the social sciences … and six different countries. The twenty essays address aspects of schadenfreude … such as hypocrisy, laughter, and morality and also its occurrence in nineteenth-century US literature. The book includes both theoretical and empirical studies and gives considerable attention to the concepts of 'deservingness', envy, and self-enhancement in regard to this emotion … This book is the first to give a solid and distinctive overview of schadenfreude from a social science perspective … Summing up: recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.' S. Halling, Choice