When Your Gain Is My Pain and Your Pain Is My Gain: Neural Correlates of Envy and Schadenfreude

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - Tập 323 Số 5916 - Trang 937-939 - 2009
Hidehiko Takahashi1,2,3,4,5, Motoichiro Kato1,2,3,4,5, Masato Matsuura1,3,4,5, Dean Mobbs1,2,3,4,5, Tetsuya Suhara1,2,3,4,5, Yoshiro Okubo1,2,3,4,5
1Department of Life Sciences and Bioinformatics, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo, 113-8549, Japan.
2Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 9-1, 4-chome, Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.
3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine,35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan
4Medical Research Council (MRC)–Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK.
5Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan

Tóm tắt

We often evaluate the self and others from social comparisons. We feel envy when the target person has superior and self-relevant characteristics. Schadenfreude occurs when envied persons fall from grace. To elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of envy and schadenfreude, we conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. In study one, the participants read information concerning target persons characterized by levels of possession and self-relevance of comparison domains. When the target person's possession was superior and self-relevant, stronger envy and stronger anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation were induced. In study two, stronger schadenfreude and stronger striatum activation were induced when misfortunes happened to envied persons. ACC activation in study one predicted ventral striatum activation in study two. Our findings document mechanisms of painful emotion, envy, and a rewarding reaction, schadenfreude.

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We gratefully thank C. Frith for his valuable comments. This study was supported by a Health and Labor Sciences Research Grant for Comprehensive Research on Disability Health and Welfare (H20-SYOGAI-011) from the Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare and a Health and Labor Sciences Research Grant for Research on Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases and Mental Health (H20-KOKORO-025) from the Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare. D.M. is support by MRC (UK).

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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Tập 323 Số 5916

937-939

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