View source for Schadenfreude

{{Short description|Pleasure from the misfortunes of others}}
{{other uses}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala - Regreso al convento.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=painting|''Return to the Convent'', by [[Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala]], 1868. The painting depicts a group of [[monk]]s laughing while a lone monk struggles with a [[donkey]]. ]]
{{Emotion}}

'''Schadenfreude''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|ɑː|d|ən|f|r|ɔɪ|d|ə|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Schadenfreude.wav}}; {{IPA|de|ˈʃaːdn̩ˌfʁɔʏ̯də|lang|Schadenfreude-native-german.flac}}; {{abbrlink|lit.|literal translation}} "harm-joy") is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or [[humiliation]] of another. It is a [[loanword]] from German. Schadenfreude has been detected in children as young as 24 months and may be an important [[social emotion]] establishing "[[inequity aversion]]".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Shamay-Tsoory SG, Ahronberg-Kirschenbaum D, Bauminger-Zviely N | title = There is no joy like malicious joy: schadenfreude in young children | journal =[[PLOS ONE]] | volume = 9 | issue = 7 | article-number = e100233 | date = 2014-07-02 | pmid = 24988446 | pmc = 4079297 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0100233 | bibcode = 2014PLoSO...9j0233S | doi-access = free }}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Schadenfreude is a term [[loanword|borrowed]] from [[German language|German]]. It is a compound of {{lang|de|[[wikt:schaden#German|Schaden]]}} ("damage/harm") and {{lang|de|[[wikt:Freude|Freude]]}} ("joy"). The German word was first mentioned in English texts in 1852 and 1867, and first used in English running text in 1895.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', 1982, [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/172271 ''s.v.'']</ref> In German, it was first attested in the 1740s.<ref>[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22schadenfreude%22&lr=lang_de&source=lnt&tbs=lr%3Alang_1de%2Ccdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1600%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1750&tbm=bks Google Books] (the 1659 and 1700 dates are incorrect)</ref>
The earliest seems to be Christoph Starke, "Synopsis bibliothecae exegeticae in Vetus Testamentum," Leipzig, 1750.

==Psychological causes==
Researchers have found that there are three driving forces behind schadenfreude – [[Aggression#Society and culture|aggression]], [[rivalry]], and [[justice]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Shensheng|last2=Lilienfeld|first2=Scott O.|last3=Rochat|first3=Philippe|date=2019-01-01|title=Schadenfreude deconstructed and reconstructed: A tripartite motivational model|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X18301430|journal=New Ideas in Psychology|language=en|volume=52|pages=1–11|doi=10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.09.002|s2cid=149802251 |issn=0732-118X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[Self-esteem]] has a negative relationship with the frequency and intensity of schadenfreude experienced by an individual; individuals with lower self-esteem tend to experience schadenfreude more frequently and intensely.<ref name="apa_emotion">{{cite journal |last1=van Dijk |first1=Wilco W. |last2=van Koningsbruggen |first2=Guido M. |last3=Ouwerkerk |first3=Jaap W. |last4=Wesseling |first4=Yoka M. |title=Self-esteem, self-affirmation, and schadenfreude |journal=Emotion |date=2011 |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=1445–1449 |doi=10.1037/a0026331 |pmid=22142213|issn=1931-1516 }}</ref>

It is hypothesized that this inverse relationship is mediated through the human psychological inclination to define and protect their self- and [[In-group and out-group|in-group]]- identity or self-conception.<ref name=apa_emotion /> Specifically, for someone with high self-esteem, seeing another person fail may still bring them a small (but effectively negligible) surge of confidence because the observer's high self-esteem significantly lowers the threat they believe the visibly-failing human poses to their status or identity. Since this confident individual perceives that, regardless of circumstances, the successes and failures of the other person will have little impact on their own status or well-being, they have very little emotional investment in how the other person fares, be it positive or negative.

Conversely, for someone with low self-esteem, someone who is more successful poses a threat to their sense of self, and seeing this person fall can be a source of comfort because they perceive a relative improvement in their internal or in-group standing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hendricks |first1=Scotty |title=3 types of Schadenfreude and when you feel them |url=https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/schadenfreude-and-psychopathy |work=Big Think |date=25 November 2018 }}</ref>

== Synonyms ==
''Schadenfreude'' has equivalents in many other languages (such as: in [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|nl|leedvermaak}}, [[Swedes|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|skadeglädje}}, [[Danish language|Danish]] {{lang|da|skadefro}}, [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''káröröm'' [[Czech language|Czech]] {{lang|cs|škodolibost}} and [[Slovak language|Slovak]] {{lang|sk|škodoradosť}}) but no commonly used precise English single-word equivalent. There are other ways to express the concept in English.

''Epicaricacy'' is a seldom-used direct equivalent,<ref>{{cite book |last=Byrne |first=Josefa H. |year=1984 |title=Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words |publisher=Pocket |isbn=978-0-671-49782-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/mrsbyrnesdiction00jos_l0h }}</ref> borrowed from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''epichairekakia'' (ἐπιχαιρεκακία, first attested in [[Aristotle]]<ref>Liddell-Scott-Jones, ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De)pixairekaki%2Fa ''s.v.''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006174347/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De)pixairekaki%2Fa |date=October 6, 2016}}</ref>) from ἐπί ''epi'' 'upon', χαρά ''chara'' 'joy', and κακόν ''kakon'' 'evil'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Nathan |year=1737 |title=Universal Etymological English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VuYIAAAAQAAJ&q=Nathan+Bailey&pg=PT286 |location=London |access-date=2016-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Nathan |year=1751 |title=Dictionarium Britannicum |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Shipley |first=Joseph T. |year=1955 |title=Dictionary of Early English |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofearl0000ship |url-access=registration |publisher=Philosophical Library |isbn=978-0-8065-2926-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Novobatzky |first=Peter |author2=Shea, Ammon |year=1955 |title=Depraved and Insulting English |publisher=Harvest Books |isbn=978-0-15-601149-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780156011495 }}</ref>

[[Tall poppy syndrome]] is a cultural<ref name=Peeters2004>{{cite journal |last1=Peeters |first1=Bert |title=Tall poppies and egalitarianism in Australian discourse: From key word to cultural value |journal=English World-Wide |date=2004 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1075/eww.25.1.02pee }}</ref> phenomenon where people of high status are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticized because they have been classified as better than their peers. This is similar to "begrudgery", the resentment or envy of the success of a peer. If someone were to feel joy by the victim's fall from grace, they would be experiencing schadenfreude.

''Roman holiday'' is a metaphor from [[George Gordon, Lord Byron|Byron's]] poem ''[[Childe Harold's Pilgrimage]]'', where a [[gladiator]] in [[ancient Rome]] expects to be "butchered to make a Roman holiday" while the audience would take pleasure from watching his suffering. The term suggests debauchery and disorder in addition to sadistic enjoyment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Roman%20holiday |title=Roman holiday – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=2007-04-25 |access-date=2010-03-23}}</ref>

[[Morose pleasure|Morose delectation]] ({{langx|la|delectatio morosa}}), meaning "the habit of dwelling with enjoyment on evil thoughts",<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/adorai/oed/morose definition of morose delectation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414034751/http://web.mit.edu/adorai/oed/morose |date=April 14, 2016}}, ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> was considered by the medieval church to be a sin.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2074.htm#6 ''Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 74''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702011344/http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2074.htm#6 |date=July 2, 2016}}, ''The [[Summa Theologica]] of St. [[Thomas Aquinas]]'', Second and Revised Edition, 1920; Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Online Edition Copyright © 2006 by Kevin Knight.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RPUuyWtO3eoC&dq=%22morose+delectation%22&pg=PA139 ''Chapter 6 Proposing the Story of the World''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827225210/https://books.google.com/books?id=RPUuyWtO3eoC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=%22morose+delectation%22&source=web&ots=QpmslAISN-&sig=nL01zLP7iH1kR44-MBqhOGJilsc#PPA139,M1 |date=August 27, 2016}}, Richard John Neuhaus, Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth, Basic Books, 2006.</ref> [[France|French]] writer [[Pierre Klossowski]] maintained that the appeal of [[Sadomasochism|sadism]] is morose delectation.<ref>[http://www.minerva.mic.ul.ie//vol10/Religion.html ''Heterodox Religion and Post-Atheism: Bataille / Klossowski/ Foucault''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426064629/http://www.minerva.mic.ul.ie/ |date=April 26, 2016}}, Jones Irwin, ISSN 1393-614X Minerva – An Internet Journal of Philosophy Vol. 10 2006.</ref><ref>[[Pierre Klossowski|Klossowski, Pierre]]. 1991. ''Sade, My Neighbour'', translated by Alphonso Lingis. [[Illinois]]. [[Northwestern University Press]].</ref>

"Gloating" is an English word of similar meaning, where "[[gloat]]" means "to observe or think about something with triumphant and often malicious satisfaction, gratification, or delight" (e.g., to gloat over an enemy's misfortune).<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Gloat}} {{Cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gloat |title=Gloat &#124; Definition of Gloat by Merriam-Webster |access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-date=August 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827125609/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gloat |url-status=bot: unknown }}.</ref>

== Related emotions or concepts ==
There is no common English term for pleasure at another's happiness (i.e.; vicarious joy), though terms like 'celebrate', 'cheer', 'congratulate', 'applaud', 'rejoice' or 'kudos' often describe a shared or reciprocal form of pleasure. The pseudo-German coinage ''freudenfreude'' is occasionally used in English.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thayer |first=Nancy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B2N6Xw0bYooC&dq=freudenfreude&pg=PA264 |title=The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again |date=2005 |publisher=[[Random House Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-345-46918-2 |page=264 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Portmann |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgB5AgAAQBAJ&dq=freudenfreude&pg=PA187 |title=When Bad Things Happen to Other People |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-00172-9 |page=187 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chambliss |first1=Catherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7U0vgAACAAJ |title=Empathy Rules: Depression, Schadenfreude and Freudenfreude Research on Depression Risk Factors and Treatment |last2=Hartl |first2=Amy |date=2016 |publisher=Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-5361-0000-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Fraga |first=Juli |date=2022-11-25 |title=The Opposite of Schadenfreude Is Freudenfreude. Here's How to Cultivate It. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/25/well/mind/schadenfreude-freudenfreude.html |access-date=2022-11-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Hebrew slang term ''[[firgun]]'' refers to happiness at another's accomplishment.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kordova |first1=Shoshana |title=Word of the Day / Firgun: The Art of Tooting Someone Else's Horn |url=https://www.haaretz.com/word-of-the-day-firgun-1.5260995 |work=Haaretz |date=25 August 2014 }}</ref>

Displeasure at another's happiness is involved in [[envy]], and perhaps in [[jealousy]].{{cn|date=November 2024}} The pseudo-German coinage "freudenschade" similarly means sorrow at another's success.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sivanandam |first1=Navin |date=April 28, 2006 |title=Freudenschade |url=http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/4/28/freudenschade |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513182307/http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/4/28/freudenschade |archive-date=May 13, 2008 |work=[[The Stanford Daily]] }}</ref> The correct form would be ''Freudenschaden'', since the pseudo-German coinage incorrectly assumes the ''n'' in ''Schadenfreude'' to be an [[interfix]] and the adjective {{lang|de|[[wikt:schade#German|schade]]}} ("unfortunate") a noun.

Displeasure at another's good fortune is ''Gluckschmerz'', a pseudo-German word coined in 1985 as a joke by the pseudonymous [[Wanda Tinasky]]; the correct German form would be ''Glücksschmerz''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Ben |title=Schadenfreude Is in the Zeitgeist, but Is There an Opposite Term? |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/schadenfreude-is-in-the-zeitgeist-but-is-there-an-opposite-term-1434129186 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=12 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Ron |last1=Rosenbaum |title=The Secret Parts of Fortune |year=2000 |isbn=0-375-50338-2 |page=645 |publisher=Random House }}</ref> It has since been used in academic contexts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoogland |first1=Charles E. |last2=Ryan Schurtz |first2=D. |last3=Cooper |first3=Chelsea M. |last4=Combs |first4=David J. Y. |last5=Brown |first5=Edward G. |last6=Smith |first6=Richard H. |title=The joy of pain and the pain of joy: In-group identification predicts schadenfreude and gluckschmerz following rival groups' fortunes |journal=[[Motivation and Emotion]] |date=5 November 2014 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=260–281 |doi=10.1007/s11031-014-9447-9 |s2cid=40788728|issn=0146-7239 }}</ref>

Displeasure at another's unhappiness is [[sympathy]], [[pity]], or [[compassion]].{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

[[Sadistic personality disorder|Sadism]] gives pleasure through the ''infliction'' of pain, whereas schadenfreude is pleasure on ''observing'' misfortune and in particular, the fact that the other somehow deserved the misfortune.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Aaron |last1=Ben-Ze'ev |author-link1=Aaron Ben-Ze'ev |chapter=The personal comparative concern in schadenfreude |chapter-url={{Google books|0XnsAwAAQBAJ|page=77|plainurl=yes}} |pages=77–90 |editor1-last=Dijk |editor1-first=Wilco W. van |editor2-last=Ouwerkerk |editor2-first=Jaap W. |title=Schadenfreude: Understanding Pleasure at the Misfortune of Others |date=2014 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-01750-4 }}</ref>

== Neologisms and variants ==
The word ''schadenfreude'' had been [[Blend word|blended]] with other words to form [[neologisms]] as early as 1993, when Lincoln Caplan, in his book ''Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire'', used the word ''Skaddenfreude'' to describe the delight that competitors of [[Skadden Arps]] took in its troubles of the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caplan |first1=Lincoln |chapter=Skaddenfreude |pages=231–238 |chapter-url={{Google books|d7wqShzpWzYC|page=231|plainurl=yes}} |title=Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire |date=1994 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-374-52424-1 }}</ref> Others include ''spitzenfreude'', coined by ''[[The Economist]]'' to refer to the fall of [[Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal|Eliot Spitzer]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The hypocrites' club |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2008/03/13/the-hypocrites-club |newspaper=The Economist }}</ref> and ''Schadenford'', coined by ''[[Toronto Life]]'' in regard to Canadian politician [[Rob Ford]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kives |first1=Bartley |title=May 2013: When the Ford jokes stop |url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/when-the-ford-jokes-stop-208982891.html |work=Winnipeg Free Press |date=26 May 2013 }}</ref>

== Literary usage and philosophical analysis ==
The Biblical [[Book of Proverbs]] mentions an emotion similar to schadenfreude: "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him." (Proverbs 24:17–18, [[King James Version]]).

In [[East Asia]], the emotion of feeling joy from seeing the hardship of others was described as early as late 4th century BCE.  The phrase {{lang|zh-Latn|Xing zai le huo}} ({{lang-zh|[[:zh:幸災樂禍|幸災樂禍]]}}) first appeared separately as {{lang|zh-Latn|xing zai}} ({{lang|zh|幸災}}), meaning the feeling of joy from seeing the hardship of others,<ref name="中華民國教育部">{{Cite web|title=幸災樂禍|url=http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000111179|author=中華民國教育部|work=dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cbdic/search.htm|access-date=2021-03-07|language=zh}}</ref> and {{lang|zh-Latn|le huo}} ({{lang|zh|樂禍}}), meaning the happiness derived from the unfortunate situation of others,<ref>{{Cite web|title=樂禍|url=http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000059406|author=中華民國教育部|work=dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cbdic/search.htm|access-date=2021-03-07|language=zh}}</ref> in the ancient Chinese text {{lang|zh-Latn|[[Zuo zhuan]]}} ({{lang|zh|[[:zh:左傳|左傳]]}}).  The ''[[chengyu]]'' {{lang|zh-Latn|xing zai le huo}} ({{lang|zh|[[:zh:幸災樂禍|幸災樂禍]]}}) is still used among Chinese speakers.<ref name="中華民國教育部"/>

In Japanese, the saying {{nihongo|''hito no fukō wa mitsu no aji''|人の不幸は蜜の味||{{lit|another's misfortune is sweet as honey}}}} exemplifies ''schadenfreude''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/67527 | title=他人の不幸を喜ぶ感情「シャーデンフロイデ」度の測り方 &#124; Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン） }}</ref>

In the ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'', [[Aristotle]] used ''epikhairekakia'' (ἐπιχαιρεκακία in Greek) as part of a triad of terms, in which ''epikhairekakia'' stands as the opposite of ''[[phthonos]]'' (φθόνος), and ''[[Archenemy|nemesis]]'' (νέμεσις) occupies the mean. ''Nemesis'' is "a painful response to another's undeserved good fortune", while ''phthonos'' is a painful response to any good fortune of another, deserved or not. The ''epikhairekakos'' (ἐπιχαιρέκακος) person takes pleasure in another's ill fortune.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pedrick |first=Victoria |author2=Oberhelman, Steven M. |year=2006 |title=The Soul of Tragedy: Essays on Athenian Drama |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=978-0-226-65306-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/souloftragedyess00vict }}</ref><ref>[[s:Page:The ethics of Aristotle.djvu/68|''Nicomachean Ethics'', 2.7.1108b1-10]]</ref>

[[Lucretius]] characterises the emotion in an extended [[simile]] in ''[[De rerum natura]]'': ''Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem'', "It is pleasant to watch from the land the great struggle of someone else in a sea rendered great by turbulent winds." The abbreviated [[List of Latin phrases|Latin tag]] ''suave mare magno'' recalled the passage to generations familiar with the Latin classics.<ref>[[Patrick O'Brian]]'s usage of the tag in his Aubrey-Maturin historical novels is reflected in Dean King's companion lexicon ''A Sea of Words'' (3rd ed.2000).</ref>

[[Caesarius of Heisterbach]] regards "delight in the adversity of a neighbour" as one of the "daughters of envy... which follows anger" in his ''Dialogue on Miracles''.<ref>''Dialogus miraculorum'', IV, 23.</ref>

During the [[17th century philosophy|seventeenth century]], [[Robert Burton (scholar)|Robert Burton]] wrote:

{{blockquote|Out of these two [the concupiscible and irascible powers] arise those mixed affections and passions of [[anger]], which is a desire of [[revenge]]; hatred, which is inveterate anger; zeal, which is offended with him who hurts that he loves; and {{lang|el|ἐπιχαιρεκακία}}, a compound affection of joy and hate, when we rejoice at other men's mischief, and are grieved at their prosperity; [[pride]], [[self-love]], emulation, envy, [[shame]], [etc.], of which elsewhere.|source=''[[The Anatomy of Melancholy]]''<ref>{{cite book |year=1621 |title=The Anatomy of Melancholy |author=Robert Burton |at=t. 1, sect. 1, memb. 2, subsect. 8}}</ref>}}

The philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] mentioned schadenfreude as the most evil sin of human feeling, famously saying "To feel envy is human, to savor schadenfreude is diabolic."<ref name="Schopenhauer1860">{{cite book|author=Arthur Schopenhauer|title=Grudlage der Moral|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55cCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA200|year=1860|publisher=Brockhaus|page=200}}</ref><ref name="Lüthe2017">{{cite book|author=Rudolf Lüthe|title=Heitere Aufklärung: Philosophische Untersuchungen zum Verhältnis von Komik, Skepsis und Humor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RdLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|year=2017|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-643-13895-8|pages=38–39}}</ref>

The song "Schadenfreude"{{Reasonator|Q110136555}} in the musical ''[[Avenue Q]]'', is a comedic exploration of the general public's relationship with the emotion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/Natalie-venetia-belcon-and-rick-lyon-schadenfreude-lyrics|title=Natalie Venetia Belcon & Rick Lyon – Schadenfreude|via=genius.com}}</ref>

Rabbi [[Harold S. Kushner]] in his book ''[[When Bad Things Happen to Good People]]'' describes schadenfreude as a universal, even wholesome reaction that cannot be helped. "There is a German psychological term, ''Schadenfreude'', which refers to the embarrassing reaction of relief we feel when something bad happens to someone else instead of to us." He gives examples and writes, "[People] don't wish their friends ill, but they can't help feeling an embarrassing spasm of gratitude that [the bad thing] happened to someone else and not to them."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kushner |first1=Harold S. |chapter=There is a German psychological term, ''Schadenfreude'' |chapter-url={{Google books|4pA55BZ2GtwC|page=44|plainurl=yes}} |page=44 |title=When Bad Things Happen to Good People |title-link=When Bad Things Happen to Good People |date=2004 |publisher=Anchor Books |isbn=978-1-4000-3472-7 }}</ref>

[[Susan Sontag]]'s book ''[[Regarding the Pain of Others]]'', published in 2003, is a study of the issue of how the pain and misfortune of some people affects others, namely whether [[war photography]] and [[War art|war paintings]] may be helpful as anti-war tools, or whether they only serve some sense of schadenfreude in some viewers.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

[[Philosopher]] and [[sociologist]] [[Theodor Adorno]] defined schadenfreude as "... largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of another, which is cognized as trivial and/or appropriate."<ref>Cited in {{cite book |author=Portmann, John |title=When bad things happen to other people |url=https://archive.org/details/whenbadthingshap0000port |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-92335-4 }}{{page needed|date=May 2020}}</ref>

Schadenfreude is steadily becoming a more popular word according to Google.<ref>https://www.wordgenius.com/all-words/schadenfreude WordGenius.com August 13, 2019</ref>

== Scientific studies ==
A ''[[New York Times]]'' article in 2002 cited a number of scientific studies of schadenfreude, which it defined as "delighting in others' misfortune". Many such studies are based on [[social comparison theory]], the idea that when people around us have bad luck, we look better to ourselves. Other researchers have found that people with low [[self-esteem]] are more likely to feel schadenfreude than are those who have high self-esteem.<ref>{{cite news |last=St. John |first=Warren |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3D6153CF937A1575BC0A9649C8B63 |title=Sorrow So Sweet: A Guilty Pleasure in Another's Woe |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 August 2002}}</ref>

A 2003 study examined intergroup schadenfreude within the context of sports, specifically an international football (soccer) competition. The study focused on the German and Dutch football teams and their fans. The results of this study indicated that the emotion of schadenfreude is very sensitive to circumstances that make it more or less legitimate to feel such malicious pleasure toward a sports rival.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leach |first1=Colin Wayne |last2=Spears |first2=Russell |last3=Branscombe |first3=Nyla R. |last4=Doosje |first4=Bertjan |title=Malicious pleasure: Schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |date=2003 |volume=84 |issue=5 |pages=932–943 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.932 |pmid=12757139 |hdl=1808/248 |hdl-access=free|issn=1939-1315 }}</ref>

A 2011 study by Cikara and colleagues using [[functional magnetic resonance imaging]] (fMRI) examined schadenfreude among [[Boston Red Sox]] and [[New York Yankees]] fans, and found that fans showed increased activation in brain areas correlated with self-reported pleasure ([[ventral striatum]]) when observing the rival team experience a negative outcome (e.g., a [[strikeout]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cikara |first1=Mina |last2=Botvinick |first2=Matthew M. |last3=Fiske |first3=Susan T. |title=Us Versus Them |journal=Psychological Science |date=26 January 2011 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=306–313 |doi=10.1177/0956797610397667 |pmid=21270447 |pmc=3833634 |issn=0956-7976 }}</ref> By contrast, fans exhibited increased activation in the [[Anterior cingulate cortex|anterior cingulate]] and insula when viewing their own team experience a negative outcome.

A 2006 experiment about "justice served" suggests that men, but not women, enjoy seeing "bad people" suffer. The study was designed to measure [[empathy]] by watching which brain centers are stimulated when subjects observed via fMRI see someone experiencing physical [[pain]]. Researchers expected that the brain's empathy center of subjects would show more stimulation when those seen as "good" got an electric shock, than would occur if the shock was given to someone the subject had reason to consider "bad". This was indeed the case, but for male subjects, the brain's pleasure centers also lit up when someone got a shock that the male thought was "well-deserved".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singer |first1=Tania |last2=Seymour |first2=Ben |last3=O'Doherty |first3=John P. |last4=Stephan |first4=Klaas E. |last5=Dolan |first5=Raymond J. |last6=Frith |first6=Chris D. |title=Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others |journal=Nature |date=18 January 2006 |volume=439 |issue=7075 |pages=466–469 |doi=10.1038/nature04271 |pmid=16421576 |pmc=2636868 |bibcode=2006Natur.439..466S |issn=0028-0836 }} For a lay summary, see {{cite news|title=When Bad People Are Punished, Men Smile (but Women Don't)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/science/when-bad-people-are-punished-men-smile-but-women-dont.html|work=The New York Times|date=2006-01-19}}</ref>

Brain-scanning studies show that schadenfreude is correlated with envy in subjects. Strong feelings of envy activated physical pain nodes in the brain's dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; the brain's reward centers, such as the ventral striatum, were activated by news that other people who were envied had suffered misfortune. The magnitude of the brain's schadenfreude response could even be predicted from the strength of the previous envy response.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Science |date=2009-02-13 |title=When Your Gain Is My Pain and Your Pain Is My Gain: Neural Correlates of Envy and Schadenfreude |doi=10.1126/science.1165604 |last1=Takahashi |first1=H. |last2=Kato |first2=M. |last3=Matsuura |first3=M. |last4=Mobbs |first4=D. |last5=Suhara |first5=T. |last6=Okubo |first6=Y. |volume=323 |issue=5916 |pages=937–9 |pmid=19213918 |bibcode=2009Sci...323..937T |s2cid=26678804|issn=0036-8075 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/science/17angi.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=17 February 2009 |title=In Pain and Joy of Envy, the Brain May Play a Role |first=Natalie |last=Angier}}</ref>

A study conducted in 2009 provides evidence for people's capacity to feel schadenfreude in response to negative events in politics.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Combs |first1=David J.Y. |last2=Powell |first2=Caitlin A.J. |last3=Schurtz |first3=David Ryan |last4=Smith |first4=Richard H. |title=Politics, schadenfreude, and ingroup identification: The sometimes happy thing about a poor economy and death |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |date=July 2009 |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=635–646 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2009.02.009 |issn=0022-1031}}</ref> The study was designed to determine whether or not there was a possibility that events containing objective misfortunes might produce schadenfreude. It was reported in the study that the likelihood of experiencing feelings of schadenfreude depends upon whether an individual's own party or the opposing party is suffering harm. This study suggests that the domain of politics is prime territory for feelings of schadenfreude, especially for those who identify strongly with their political party.

In 2014, research in the form of an online survey analyzed the relationship between schadenfreude and '[[Dark Triad]]' traits (i.e. [[narcissism]], [[Machiavellianism (psychology)|Machiavellianism]], and [[psychopathy]]). The findings showed that those respondents who had higher levels of Dark Triad traits also had higher levels of schadenfreude, engaged in greater anti-social activities, and had greater interests in [[sensationalism]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=James|first1=Samantha|last2=Kavanagh|first2=Phillip S.|last3=Jonason|first3=Peter K.|last4=Chonody|first4=Jill M.|last5=Scrutton|first5=Hayley E.|date=2014-10-01|title=The Dark Triad, schadenfreude, and sensational interests: Dark personalities, dark emotions, and dark behaviors|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691400258X|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=68|pages=211–216|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.020|issn=0191-8869|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{anl|Crab mentality}}
* [[Katagelasticism]] – A psychological condition in which a person excessively enjoys laughing at others
* [[List of German expressions in English]]
* {{anl|Revenge}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Richard H. |year=2013 |title=The Joy of Pain: Schadenfreude and the Dark Side of Human Nature |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973454-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Tiffany Watt |title=Schadenfreude: The Joy of Another's Misfortune |year=2018 |publisher=Little, Brown Spark |isbn=978-0-316-47030-8}}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary inline|schadenfreude}}
* {{Wiktionary inline|Schadenfreude}}

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