Schadenfreude
A neurocognitive view on the dimensions of Schadenfreude and envy
BY ADOLF M. GARCIA,
AGUSTIN IBÁÑEZ, AND
DECEMBER 2ND 2017
"However, the vast spectrum of human affect includes counter-empathic emotions, complex physiological and neurocognitive states that contradict the naïve view of human empathy. These particular emotions emerge in scenarios that prompt social comparisons, constrained by implicit conceptions of the social order and shaped by contextual requirements. All of us are well acquainted with at least two of these counter-empathic emotions, namely, Schadenfreude and envy. On the one hand, Schadenfreude (a German word referring to gloating) is an emotional state characterized by pleasure at someone else’s misfortune."