Sep 30, 2026 · 42 min
Envy can signal what matters—and motivate change
Can envy be good for you? With Jens Lange, PhD, and Sara Protasi, PhD
Treating envy as information rather than a moral defect may clarify how comparison shapes relationships, ambition, and online behavior.
- 1Envy differs from jealousy and centers on another person’s advantage in a personally meaningful comparison.
- 2Close relationships can intensify envy because similarity, competition, and intimacy make another person’s success harder to absorb.
- 3Recognizing envy may support constructive action, but malicious envy can also fuel schadenfreude and resentment.
Don't miss
Sara Protasi explains why envy can arise toward people we love, when closeness and similarity make their success especially difficult to celebrate.
The brief
Jens Lange and Sara Protasi challenge envy’s reputation as a purely shameful emotion, distinguishing it from jealousy and examining why personally relevant comparisons matter.
Protasi frames envy as a three-part relation involving an envier, an envied person, and a desired good, which can be material, personal, or abstract.
Envy often appears among friends, siblings, colleagues, or romantic partners because closeness and similarity make another person’s success feel especially consequential.
Lange connects envy with social-comparison and achievement tendencies, while the guests consider how culture, family expectations, and parenting shape its expression.
The conversation separates constructive responses from malicious envy: recognizing disadvantage may motivate action, while resentment can produce schadenfreude.
Social media adds a modern pressure point, with passive browsing and curated lives encouraging upward comparison and increasing state envy.
Books & mentions
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