Envy

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Envy can be defined as a resentful emotion which “occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement or possession and wishes that the other lacked it.”

Bertrand Russell said that envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness Not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but they also wish to inflict misfortune on others. Although envy is generally seen as something negative. System psychologists have recently suggested that there may be two types of envy: malicious envy and benign envy – benign envy being proposed as a type of positive motivational force.

The theory that helps to explain envy and its effects on human behavior is Based upon (Charles) Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection, which predicts that humans behave in ways that enhance individual survival and also the reproduction of their genes.

Envy compared with jealousy

“Envy” and “jealousy” are often used interchangeably in common usage, but strictly speaking, the words stand for two distinct emotions. Jealousy is the result or fear of losing someone or something that one is attached to or possesses to another person (the transfer of a lover’s affections in the typical form), while envy is the resentment caused by another person having something that one does not have, but desires for oneself.

Basically, people find themselves experiencing an overwhelming emotion due to someone else owning or possessing desirable items that they do not.

In Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.’s Old Money, he states that “envy is so integral and painful a part of what animates human behavior in market societies that many people have forgotten the full meaning of the word, simplifying it into one of the symptoms of desire. Oneself, as if the pump of one’s heart were sucking on air. One has to be blind to perceive the emptiness, of course, but that’s what envy is, a selective blindness.

Overcoming envy

Envy may negatively affect the closeness and satisfaction of relationships. Overcoming envy might be similar to dealing with other negative emotions (anger, resentment, etc.). Salovey and Rodin also suggest “self-bolstering (e.g., “thinking about my good qualities”) may be an effective strategy for moderating these self-deprecating thoughts and muting negative effective reactions”.

Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder are often envious of others or believe others are envious of them. A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person’s ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.

In philosophy

Aristotle defined it “as the pain caused by the good fortune of others”, while Kant defined it as “a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another’s because the standard we use to see how well off we are is not the intrinsic worth of our own well-being but how it compares with that of others”

Religious views

Thus, Hinduism teaches that envy can be overcome simply by recognizing that the man or woman who is the object of one’s envy is merely enjoying the fruits of their past karmic actions and that one should not allow such devious emotions to take control of their mind, lest they suffer the same fate as the antagonists of the Mahabharata.

In Christianity (A ruining flesh sin)

Envy is a sin of flesh Envy (evil eye) is among the things that come from the heart, defiling a person. The whole body is full of darkness when the eye, the lamp of body, is bad., He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished, said Solomon. Envy ruins the body health because it makes the bone rot and excludes us from inheriting the kingdom of God.

The basis of all toil and all skill of the people (we always choose our job because we want the wealthy, fame and pleasures we see at the other’s job around us), envy is, therefore, a sin deeply engraved in human nature. It appears (comes into being) when man lacks certain things.

Christians must not fall into the trap of envying of the wicked of the men of violence of those who seem to have a happy, prosperous, untroubled life, but always be aware that God will reward each according to his deeds.

In Islam 

In Islam, envy is an impurity of the heart and can destroy one’s good deeds. One must be content with what God has willed and believe in the justice of the creator. A Muslim should not allow his envy to inflict harm upon the envied person.

A Muslim may wish for himself a blessing like that which someone else has, without wanting it to be taken away from the other person. This is permissible and is not called Hassad Rather, it is called Hibah .

In Buddhism 

In Buddhism, the term irshya is commonly translated as either envy or jealousy. Irshya is defined as a state of mind in which one is highly agitated to obtain wealth and honor for oneself, but unable to bear the excellence of others.

The term mudita (sympathetic joy) is defined as taking joy in the good fortune of others. This virtue is considered the antidote to envy and the opposite of schadenfreude..

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NB: References taken from Wikipedia.