Quick summary: New research finds that envy and schadenfreude, though both socially uncomfortable emotions, draw on distinct cognitive processes, with envy requiring deeper perspective-taking and theory of mind than schadenfreude. The study, conducted with 103 adults in Chile, found that stronger executive functioning amplified both emotions, but only influenced envy through the mediating role of mental state inference. These findings have implications for understanding workplace dynamics, social media behaviour, and the psychological roots of fairness judgements in an increasingly comparison-driven culture.
Two of the most socially uncomfortable emotions humans experience, envy and schadenfreude, are shaped by distinct cognitive processes in the brain, according to new research. The findings offer fresh insight into why people respond so differently to the good and bad fortune of others, with implications for how social behaviour is studied and understood.
The study, published in BMC Psychology, examined how executive functions and theory of mind contribute to the intensity of these two complex social emotions. Executive functions refer to a set of mental skills that include working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Theory of mind is the capacity to infer what other people are thinking or feeling.
Researchers recruited 103 adults aged between 30 and 50 in Chile and assessed them using three validated psychological tools. These were the Ineco Frontal Screening, which measures executive functioning; the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, which assesses theory of mind; and a Social Emotion Task that presented participants with written scenarios designed to provoke either envy or schadenfreude.
The results showed that executive functions were significantly associated with the intensity of both envy and schadenfreude. However, theory of mind told a more nuanced story. It was linked to envy but showed no meaningful relationship with schadenfreude, suggesting the two emotions draw on overlapping but partially distinct cognitive pathways.
Augusto Blanco,clinical psychologist at Man Helping Men, says the distinction makes intuitive sense. “Envy appears more connected to executive functions and theory of mind. It demands an evaluation of the person’s own social position relative to someone else’s, how that person achieved success, and what that disparity says about their own value or status. This is too complex to be a simple amygdala-based process. Schadenfreude, by contrast, may be a more automatic evaluative process.”
To explore this further, the team conducted mediation analyses and found that theory of mind acted as a bridge between executive functioning and envy. In other words, stronger executive skills appeared to support better mental state inference, which in turn amplified the emotional experience of envy. No such mediation was found for schadenfreude.
Tracy Collins, clinical psychologist at Mentalyc, points to the cognitive demands that separate the two emotions. “To feel envy, you usually have to imagine another person’s life in some detail, what they have, what it means to them, and what their success says about your own position by comparison. That is cognitively harder and takes active perspective-taking. Schadenfreude is more automatic; someone fails, and your brain reacts with a quick sense of reward without the same deep mental modelling.”
The researchers suggest this distinction reflects the different social demands of each emotion. Envy involves social comparison, requiring a person to interpret someone else’s advantages relative to their own situation. Schadenfreude appears more closely tied to evaluative and reward-based processes, such as judging whether someone deserved their misfortune, rather than requiring the same depth of perspective-taking.
Blanco notes that the study carries particular relevance for the digital age. “The study of envy and schadenfreude is especially important in the digital era, where social media constantly encourages comparison. We have heard of influencers displaying luxury cars or mansions that later turn out to be rented, staged, or exaggerated specifically to generate engagement through the elicitation of envy, jealousy, and emotional reactivity.”
The finding that schadenfreude may operate with less reliance on empathic or mentalising processes could help explain why it tends to feel more automatic and less reflective than envy. The researchers note that the cross-sectional design of the study limits causal conclusions, and that replication across larger and more culturally diverse samples will be necessary. Future work incorporating additional emotional and motivational measures may help to further clarify what drives schadenfreude at the cognitive level.
