The Link between Depression and Schadenfreude: Further Evidence

Abstract

This replication examined the link between schadenfreude (i.e., pleasure from another's misfortune), freudenfreude (i.e., pleasure from another's success), and self-rated depression. Using the Freudenfreude and Schadenfreude Test (FAST), moderately depressed students reported more schadenfreude and less freudenfreude than their mildly depressed peers. The limitations of this study and further research directions are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen

N. B.

Trinder

Brennan

(1999) Affective startle modulation in clinical depression: Preliminary findings. Biological Psychiatry, 46, 542–550.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (4th ed.) Washington, DC: Author.

Beck

A. T.

Ward

C. H.

Mendelson

Mock

Erbaugh

(1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.

Berenbaum

(1992) Posed facial expressions of emotion in schizophrenia and depression. Psychological Medicine, 22, 929–937.

Bourke

Douglas

Porter

(2010) Processing of facial emotion expression in major depression: A review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 681–696.

Cattai

Benton

Elghawy

Fan

LaFerriere

Maloney

Tanenbaum

Thompson

Scavicchio

Clayman

Kaylor

McAndrew

McGeorge

Mosher

Petronglo

Chambliss

(2012) The construct validity of the Freudenfreude and Schadenfreude Test (FAST). Poster presented at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, March 1–4.

Chambliss

Cattai

Benton

Elghawy

Fan

Thompson

Scavicchio

Tanenbaum

(2012) Freudenfreude and Schadenfreude Test (FAST) scores of depressed and non-depressed undergraduates. Psychological Reports, 111, 115–116.

Disner

S. G.

Beevers

C. G.

Haigh

E. A.

Beck

A. T.

(2011) Neural mechanisms of the cognitive model of depression. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12, 467–477. DOI: 10.1038/nrn3027

Feather

N. T.

(2008) Effects of observer's own status on reactions to a high achiever's failure: Deservingness, resentment, schadenfreude, and sympathy. Australian Journal of Psychology, 60, 31–43.

10.

Feather

N. T.

Sherman

(2002) Envy, resentment, schadenfreude, and sympathy: Reactions to deserved and undeserved achievements and subsequent failure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 953–961.

11.

Gilbert

McEwan

Bellew

Mills

Gale

(2009) The dark side of competition: How competitive behaviour and striving to avoid inferiority are linked to depression, anxiety, stress and self-harm. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 82, 123–136.

12.

Hofstede

(2001) Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

13.

Leach

C. W.

Spears

(2008) “A vengefulness of the impotent”: The pain of in-group inferiority and schadenfreude toward successful out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1383–1396.

14.

Leach

C. W.

Spears

Branscombe

N. R.

Doosje

(2003) Malicious pleasure: Schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 932–943.

15.

Marazziti

Consoli

Picchetti

Carlini

Faravelli

(2010) Cognitive impairment in major depression. European Journal of Pharmacology, 626, 83–86.

16.

Renneberg

Heyn

Gebhard

Bachmann

(2005) Facial expression of emotions in borderline personality disorder and depression. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 36, 183–196.

17.

Smith

R. H.

Parrott

W. G.

Diener

E. F.

Hoyle

R. H.

Kim

S. H.

(1999) Dispositional envy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1007–1020.

18.

Sowislo

J. F.

Orth

(2013) Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 213–240.

19.

van de Ven

Hooglandb

C. E.

Smith

R. H.

van Dijk

W. W.

Breugelmansad

S. M.

Zeelenberga

(2015) When envy leads to schadenfreude. Cognition and Emotion, 29(6), 1007–1025. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2014.961903

20.

van Dijk

W. W.

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Goslinga

Nieweg

(2005) Deservingness and schadenfreude. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 933–939.

21.

van Dijk

W. W.

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Goslinga

Nieweg

Gallucci

(2006) When people fall from grace: Reconsidering the role of envy in schadenfreude. Emotion, 6, 156–160.

22.

van Dijk

W. W.

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Wesseling

Y. M.

van Koningsbruggen

G. M.

(2011) Towards understanding pleasure at the misfortune of others: The impact of self-evaluation threat on schadenfreude. Cognition and Emotion, 25, 360–368.

23.

van Dijk

W. W.

van Koningsbruggen

G. M.

Ouwerkerk

J. W.

Wesseling

Y. M.

(2011) Self-esteem, self-affirmation, and schadenfreude. Emotion, 11, 1445–1449.