Dispositional envy: A conceptual review

Humans have a powerful desire for social status (Anderson et al., 2015) that is motivated by an evolved need for respect, admiration, and influence (Kenrick et al., 2010). In fact, research indicates that status attainment yields substantial benefits. It fuels self-esteem and lowers depression (Fournier, 2009), raises subjective well-being (Anderson, Kraus et al., 2012), improves several health indicators such as stress, weight, affectivity, sleep quality, or coping ability (Adler et al., 2000), and elevates others’ perception of a person's competence (Anderson and Kilduff, 2009). In light of these benefits, threats to personal status should elicit strong emotional reactions (see Steckler and Tracy, 2014). Consequently, encountering individuals high in status may give rise to an emotion aimed at attaining others’ rank or at decreasing the status of successful competitors – envy (Lange and Crusius, 2015b; van de Ven et al., 2009). Thus, even though envy is often portrayed as morally reprehensible and maladaptive (Smith and Kim, 2007), an inclination to react with envy could actually prove to be functional. Here, we review approaches to dispositional envy and outline how being prone to experience envy may contribute to the regulation of social hierarchies at the interpersonal and societal level.