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My research explores the lived experience of envy amongst psychotherapists and between psychotherapists in a psychotherapeutic community in New Zealand. It focuses on bringing the experience of envy out of hiddenness and into language.It then explores the understandings and the possibilities of meanings that these experiences have. Previous literature on envy has for the most part discussed the clients' envy for the psychotherapist, and very little has been written about the therapists' envy for the client. My research turns the focus to the psychotherapist as it looks at their envy for each other.As I was interested in the therapists' lived experiences of envy, I chose hermeneutic phenomenology as the methodology to explore these. I drew on the philosophical underpinnings offered by Heidegger, Gadamer and van Manen.What arose from my in-depth conversations with psychotherapists is that while envy is an experienced phenomenon that is for the most part not spoken, the powerful feelings that it evokes have great impact on both those who envy and those who are envied. Envy showed up as arising in a relational context, with perception, time and anxiety as contextual determinants. These, along with the findings of the lived experience of envy as a binding between self and other, as threatening to self and other and as a means of connecting with self and other, are some of the essential points discussed in my thesis.This study provides a starting point for a further exploration of the experience of envy amongst psychotherapists as well as envy's impact on who we are in ourselves and how we are with each other, both personally and professionally.

abstract: Envy may be an emotion shaped by evolution to resolve large resource disparities in zero-sum ancestral environments. Previous research has found evidence for two types of envy: benign envy, which drives greater effort and self-improvement; and malicious envy, which drives hostility toward the better-off target. We predicted that perceived resource scarcity would stoke either type, moderated by individual differences. Specifically, we predicted that high self-esteem would steer people toward benign envy and self-improvement, whereas narcissism would spark malicious envy. After completing the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI-16), participants were randomly assigned to either read an article detailing severe cuts to university financial aid budgets (scarcity) or an article summarizing various forms of financial aid (control). Each article ended with the same envy-inducing paragraph about a particularly affluent scholarship-winner, after which participants completed a measure of both envy types, capturing feelings, appraisals, and behavioral tendencies. Results show that self-esteem predicts less malicious envy, while narcissism and scarcity predict more. Self-esteem and narcissism interact such that self-esteem dampens the effect of narcissism on malicious envy. Self-esteem predicted benign envy when narcissism was low, but not when it was high. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2011

Avund bland anställda är en negativ emotion som drivs av att anställda jämför sina kvaliteter och prestationer med varandra. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om känslor av avund, såväl att avundas som att bli avundad, är associerade med uppfattningar om psykosociala faktorer på kvinnodominerade arbetsplatser. Undersökningens deltagare bestod av 127 kvinnor inom vårdsektorn i Mellansverige. Deltagarnas uppfattningar om psykosociala faktorer i arbetslivet mättes med mätinstrumentet QPSnordic. Deltagarna fick även besvara åtta påståenden ur Workplace envy som mäter två dimensioner av avund. Studiens resultat visade att flera faktorer i den psykosociala arbetsmiljön är associerade med avund. Att vara avundad på arbetet kan höja arbetstillfredsställelsen medan att avundas en kollega kan minska motivationen och sänka skickligheten att utföra sitt arbete, då relationer kan påverkas negativt.

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Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop a descriptive model of envy in nursing practice and nurse education environments. The context of nursing and the concept of envy were described in the first phase of the study. The aim of the second and third phases was to describe envy and its conceptual meaning in the nursing practice and educational communities. Data were collected by a questionnaire presented to 78 (N = 120) employees in one central hospital in 1994 and to 94 (N = 110) student nurses in one polytechnic of health and welfare in 1996 in Finland. The data were analysed using cross-tabulations and factor analysis. The construct validities of the questionnaires were good, but their construct reliabilities were only acceptable and partly even poor. The aim of the fourth phase of the study was to describe different opinions of envy. Data were collected from 64 (N = 100) student nurses in 1998. The aim of the fifth phase of the study was to describe envy and its conceptual meaning in nursing practice and nurse education environments. The material was collected by interviewing four lecturers from two polytechnics of health and welfare in 1998. A phenomenographic approach was used to analyse these materials. In the sixth phase of the study, the concept of envy, the positions of employees/students/lecturers and the relations between them, the managers and the other community members, the objects of envy and the methods of coping with envy and were shown. According to the model of envy, the position of an individual was defined by his/her experience of him/herself and his/her role in the community. The role was related to his/her tasks, individual actions and socioemotional factors. Envy was considered to pertain to the relations between individuals and groups, managers and objects of envy, such as professional knowledge, individual abilities and the individual's position of the community. The informants coped by themselves, co-operated in their tasks and worked with a task orientation. They shared a subjective feeling of busyness. The connections between the concepts were not tested. The concepts were assumed to be related to each other. The model of envy is hence hypothetical. This study produced new knowledge of envy in nursing practice and nurse education environments. The results can be used in nurse management and to improve curricula and collaboration. The methodological solutions can be used in other kinds of nursing research. / Tiivistelmä Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkoituksena oli kehittää malli kateudesta, joka kuvaa terveysalan käytännössä ja koulutuksessa ilmenevää kateutta. Tutkimuksen ensimmäisen vaiheen tehtävänä oli kuvata terveysalan kontekstia ja kateuden käsitettä. Toisen ja kolmannen vaiheen tehtävänä oli kuvata terveysalan käytännössä ja koulutuksessa ilmenevään kateuteen liittyviä tunnuspiirteitä. Aineistot kerättiin 1994 yhdessä keskussairaalassa työskennelleiltä 78 henkilöltä (N = 120) ja 94:ltä (N = 110) sosiaali- ja terveysalan opiskelijalta yhdessä ammattikorkeakoulussa kyselylomakkeella 1996. Aineistot analysoitiin käyttäen ristiintaulukointia ja faktorianalyysia. Kyselylomakkeiden rakennevaliditeetti oli hyvä. Sisäinen johdonmukaisuus oli hyvä ja osin kyseenalainen. Tutkimuksen neljännen vaiheen tehtävänä oli kuvata kateuteen liittyviä erilaisia käsityksiä. Aineisto kerättiin 64:ltä (N = 100) terveysalan opiskelijalta 1998. Tutkimuksen viidennen vaiheen (1998) tehtävänä oli kuvata terveysalan käytännössä ja koulutuksessa ilmenevään kateuteen liittyviä käsitteitä. Siksi haastateltiin neljä terveysalan opettajaa, jotka toimivat kahdessa eri sosiaali- ja terveysalan ammattikorkeakoulussa. Aineistot analysoitiin käyttäen fenomenografista lähestymistapaa. Kuudennessa vaiheessa kuvattiin terveysalalla ilmenevä kateuden käsite, työntekijän/opiskelijan/opettajan asema, suhde samassa yhteisössä toimijaan, johtajuuteen ja toiseen yhteisöön, kateuden kohteet ja kateudesta selviytymisen keinot sekä niihin liittyvät käsitteet, joiden avulla kehitettiin malli kateudesta. Kehitetyn kateuden mallin mukaan ihmisen asemaa kuvaa käsitys itsestä ja omasta roolista yhteisössä. Käsitykseen itsestä liittyy ammatillinen tyytyväisyys tai tyytymättömyys. Rooli on tehtäväkeskeinen, yksilöllinen ja sosioemotionaalinen. Kateus liittyy ihmisten keskinäisiin ja eri ryhmien välisiin suhteisiin sekä johtajuuteen ja kateuden kohteisiin (ammatilliseen osaamiseen, henkilökohtaisiin taitoihin ja ominaisuuksiin sekä asemaan yhteisössä). Terveysalan käytännössä ja koulutuksessa toimivat selviytyvät yksin, tekevät tehtävän mukaista yhteistyötä ja työskentelevät tehtäväkeskeisesti. Toimijoita yhdistää kiireen kokemus. Mallissa ei testattu muodostettujen käsitteiden välisiä suhteita, mutta oletetaan, että käsitteet liittyvät toisiinsa. Tuotettu malli kateudesta on hypoteettinen. Tutkimus tuottaa uutta tietoa terveysalan käytännössä ja koulutuksessa ilmenevästä kateudesta. Tuloksia voidaan käyttää terveysalan johtamisessa ja kehitettäessä opetusmenetelmiä ja yhteistoiminnallisuutta. Tutkimuksen menetelmällisiä ratkaisuja voidaan soveltaa myös muissa hoitotieteellisissä tutkimuksissa.

Envy is an other-oriented but negative emotion; no research has examined the influence of envy on prosocial behavior. Study 1 examined whether envy and gratitude would promote or inhibit prosocial behavior. I hypothesized that envy would result in less helping behavior than a neutral condition, whereas gratitude would increase helping behavior. Results supported the hypothesis that envy inhibits prosocial behavior. There was not enough evidence to suggest that gratitude promoted helping. Study 2 examined how envy and gratitude affected prosocial behavior when participants were given the choice to help or harm others. I hypothesized that experiencing envy would result in greater likelihood of engaging in harmful behavior, but that gratitude would promote more helpful behavior, even when it meant a less positive outcome for participants. The hypothesis that envy increases harming behavior was supported, while there was not enough evidence to suggest that gratitude promoted helping behavior in this scenario.

Envy is a painful emotion that can negatively impact one’s self-worth. It is also a shameful, socially undesirable emotion, implying both inferiority and hostility. Some scholars suggest that these features of envy lead to a need to cope with the emotion. Thus, over time, envy tends to be transformed into more socially acceptable responses such as resentment or dislike. The present study tested this claim. First, envy was manipulated by asking participants to read an article containing an interview with either a high- or low-envy target. The second article manipulated the likeability of the target by varying whether or not he or she made an arrogant statement. Finally, a third article indicated that the target had suffered a misfortune. Although, as predicted, envy decreased, the manipulation of likeability did not affect this decrease. Consistent with predictions, resentment increased after the second article and this was more likely when the target was dislikeable than when the target was likeable. Finally, the participants felt greater schadenfreude when the dislikeable target suffered than when the likeable target suffered and marginally more schadenfreude when the target was more enviable. Clearly, envy dissipated over time, but further research is needed to determine precisely why.

A travers cette thèse, nous étudions l'envie et explorons l'impact de cette dernière sur le bien-être et le comportement individuel. Cette thèse se compose de quatre chapitres. Dans un premier chapitre, nous définissons l'envie en nous référant à des travaux réalisés en philosophie et en psychologie. Nous concluons que l'envie est une émotion déclenchée par la prise de conscience d'un attribut désiré, possédé par autrui et qui se caractérise par une douloureuse tristesse incluant des sentiments d'hostilité. Ensuite nous élaborons un protocole expérimental dont l'objectif est d'étudier l'impact de l'envie sur le bien-être et sur le comportement individuel. Nous capturons l'envie à travers des méthodes d'évaluation subjective et nous examinons si l'envie incite les sujets à réduire la dotation de leur partenaire malgré le coût personnel induit par la réduction. Nous observons que l'envie est fortement présente mais n'explique pas pourquoi les sujets réduisent la dotation des autres. Les inégalités de dotations mesurées en termes relatifs modulent les décisions des sujets à réduire la dotation d'autrui. Dans le chapitre trois, nous nous intéressons à l'impact de l'effort sur l'envie. Pour cela nous élaborons deux traitements. Dans un traitement, les sujets reçoivent des dotations de manière aléatoire alors que dans l'autre traitement les dotations sont attribuées en fonction de la performance de chaque sujet lors d'une tache effectuée avant l'expérience. Nous trouvons que l'effort n'affecte pas la satisfaction des sujets mais partiellement leur comportement : les sujets ne sont pas plus nombreux a réduire les gains des autres mais ils en réduisent une plus grande partie. Enfin, nous nous intéressons à un type de sujets particulier dans lequel l'envie est susceptible d'être ressentie fortement : les sportifs. Nous concluons que la pratique d'activités sportives pousse les agents à ressentir de l'envie et les incite à entreprendre des actions de réduction. / Throughout this dissertation we aim at identifying envy and investigating its impacts on both individual well-being and behaviour. This dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the definition of envy by referring to both researches on philosophy and psychology. We convey that envy can be defined as an emotion triggered by the awareness of a desired attribute enjoyed by another person characterised by a painful sadness including feelings of hostility. In the second chapter, we implement an experiment so as to investigate the impact of envy on individual well-being and behaviour. We capture envy through referring to self-report methods and explore whether envy pushes subjects to reduce their opponent's endowment at a personal cost. We observe that envy is highly present but does not explain why subjects reduce others' income. Inequalities between subjects' endowments measured in relative terms modulate subjects' decisions to reduce others' income. In chapter three, we study how effort affects envy and whether the impact of envy on both individual well-being and behaviour is amplified or weakened by effort. To fulfil our purpose, we implement two different conditions. In one condition endowments are randomly attributed to subjects and in the other condition endowments are allocated according to each subject's performance in a task. We observe that effort does not affect subjects' satisfaction and partially their behaviour : subjects do not reduce more often their opponent's endowment but they cut a higher portion of their opponent's endowment when endowments are attributed according to individual effort. In the final chapter, we focus on a specific category of subjects in which envy is ought to be experienced intensively : subjects practicing sport activities. We observe that sport practice pushes subjects to experience envy and exerts them to engage in reduction decisions.

This study reports on the development and revision of an instrument to measure the relationship between workplace bullying and envy, as reported by the perpetrator of bullying. In the pilot study, referred to as Phase A, measures of workplace bullying, direct envy and indirect envy were developed. The constructs of envy and bullying were captured without the undesirable labels of ‘bullying’ and ‘envy’. The pilot instrument was administered to a random sample of 200 employees. A total of 74 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 37% response rate. Psychometric analysis included Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis. Written participant feedback was sought on question clarity and construct validity. The results indicated that the envy and bullying subscales had satisfactory internal reliability and construct validity and that the indirect participant-character methodology was the preferred measure of envy for the affect of anger. The relationship between envy and workplace bullying was investigated using Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. Results showed a positive relationship between envy and informal bullying. It was concluded that the instrument was a reliable and valid self-reported measure of envy and workplace bullying. The pilot instrument was adapted in Phase B of the study to improve its psychometric properties. Using the revised instrument, self-reported data on envy and workplace bullying were collected from a population of Australian workers in nursing, teaching and electrical trades. There were 1545 questionnaires distributed. A total of 413 usable questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 27%. Psychometric analysis included Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. Gossip related behaviours were found to be related to a different construct than ‘bullying’ and these items were deleted from the analysis. A one way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc tests was performed to explore the impact of industry (nursing, teaching and electrical trades) on bullying scores. Results showed small yet significant between-industry differences for informal bullying, with significant moderate differences for total bullying. In Phase B of the study, the relationship between envy and workplace bullying was investigated for the sample (N = 413) and ‘high anger’ envy groups, using Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. ‘High anger’ was not measured as ‘overt aggression’, but as envious anger felt toward the possessor of superior traits. The major findings from this research were that envy had a positive significant (p < .05) relationship with all types of workplace bullying: informal bullying, formal bullying and total bullying. Further, the correlations between envy and all types of workplace bullying were found to increase for ‘high anger’ groups. Large (r > .70) significant (p < .05) correlations were found for some of the highest anger groups. As envious anger increased, the strength of the correlation between envy and workplace bullying increased. An important finding to emerge from this research was that it is the psychoanalytic view of envy, marked by a ‘feeling of envious anger at the possessor of superior traits’, which was most associated with all types of workplace bullying. The results demonstrated that the self-report study managed to overcome some of the methodological challenges of studying bullying from the perspective of the perpetrator and of measuring undesirable concealed emotions such as envy. Several recommendations for future research and preventative workplace practice arose from the findings of this study. Future research should apply the objective methodology employed in this study to longitudinal self-reported studies. Such studies could provide insight into whether bullying is a static or an escalating process. Related to this, future studies need to investigate why bullying, as reported by the perpetrators of bullying in this study, is either not deterred by organisations or not formally reported by targets. The role of organisations in monitoring and preventing workplace bullying and the apparent inadequacy of workplace bullying policies and internal grievance processes warrant further research. There needs to be greater awareness of the potential for organisations to elicit [harmful] envy through workplace ‘rewards’. Investigation of the ‘progression of envious feelings’ at work may assist organisations to mitigate the escalation of envious feelings toward anger, which was found to be most associated with workplace bullying in this study. Importantly, organisations need to be aware of the potential for rewarded and talented workers to become targets of workplace bullying. As such, further workplace research is needed on narcissists, who envy those who receive more attention, praise or acknowledgement than themselves (Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2007). Given the ubiquitousness of envy reported on in this study, the ‘spectrum’ of narcissistic tendencies in the general population (Foster & Campbell, 2007) should be measured.