Schadenfreude : Contexts in Which Men and Women Feel Pleasure in Response to Others' Misfortune

Abstract

"Schadenfreude" is a German word used to represent a feeling of pleasure in response to another person's misfortune. Systematic research suggests that schadenfreude is felt most often toward same-sex peers who are disliked or whose previous good fortune is perceived as undeserved. Nearly all of the existing studies on schadenfreude have been experimental manipulations involving hypothetical academic misfortune among college students. The purpose of this study was to determine whether people experience schadenfreude in contexts outside of academics; a secondary purpose was to investigate whether men and women differ in their perceptions of which misfortunes elicit the most pleasure.