"So You Wanna Be a Pop Star?": Schadenfreude Following Another's Misfortune on TV

• Published in: Basic and applied social psychology Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 168 - 174
• Main Authors: van Dijk, Wilco W., Ouwerkerk, Jaap W., van Koningsbruggen, Guido M., Wesseling, Yoka M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01-03-2012; Taylor & Francis; Psychology Press
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Feedback; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Motivation; Personality. Affectivity; Programming (Broadcast); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Self evaluation; Self representation; Social psychology; Task Performance; Television; Television programs; Human; Feedback regulation; Performance; Self evaluation; Schadenfreude
• ISSN: 0197-3533; 1532-4834
• DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2012.656006

In this experiment we demonstrate that low self-evaluation individuals experience more schadenfreude following an unfavorable performance of a contestant on a TV show after receiving negative feedback on a self-relevant task, as compared with those who received positive feedback. Moreover, we show that high self-evaluation individuals do not differ in their experience of schadenfreude as a function of feedback. These findings corroborate our argument that in a "double whammy" condition (i.e., low self-evaluation and induced self-threat), individuals will be more motivated to restore their self-worth and, consequently, experience more pleasure at the misfortunes of others.