February 15, 2023

Feeling Happy When Someone Else Succeeds Shown to Boost Mental Health

By Gabriela Murza, MS, MCHES, Professional Practice Extension Assistant Professor, Health and Wellness/HEART Initiative

Friends Celebrating

If a friend told you something incredible happened to them, like they got a raise at work or passed a difficult exam, what would be your first thought? What if their “incredible” news was something you were striving for, but didn’t achieve? You might feel jealous, happy, or maybe a mixture of both.

While jealousy can be a normal response, research shows that feeling happy for someone when they succeed can help boost mental health and wellbeing, increase prosocial behavior (e.g., helping others), and improve relationships (Morelli et al., 2015; Telle & Pfister, 2015). This “positive empathy”, or freudenfreude, has benefits even if we aren’t directly involved in their success.

Sometimes it can be tough to share in the joy - things like our mood and personal expectations can play a role in how we react to someone else’s accomplishments. For example, people who identify as depressed show lower levels of positive empathy and higher levels of its opposite, Schadenfreude (Chambliss et al., 2012). This is the happiness you feel when someone experiences something negative – like if the person who cut you off on the highway is later seen getting a ticket, or when justice is served for a villain in a movie. Additionally, adults who were brought up to connect self-worth with achievement may have a harder time showing positive empathy, instead taking the other’s achievement as a personal failing (Crocker et al., 2009).

Schadenfreude is shown to be helpful in some situations because it helps us deal with vulnerability, evokes competition to succeed, and builds bonds within our networks (Ouwerkerk et al., 2016). However, frequently experiencing this is shown to lead to an “us versus them” mentality, which can have implications for how we treat and work with people and communities who are seen as different (Anthes, 2010).

Even though Schadenfreude is a normal part of human psychology, we want to nurture Freudenfreude because of its benefits to mental health. How can we practice and improve our positive empathy? Chambliss (2018) offers a few suggestions:             

  • Show interest in someone else’s happiness by actively listening and asking questions.
  • Share credit for your success. For example, “Thanks to my friend who helped me study, I passed a really hard exam”.
  • Ask someone to share some good news as a pick-me-up when you’re feeling down as a way to bring positivity to your day.

References:

  • Anthes, E. (2010). Their pain, our gain: Why schadenfreude is best enjoyed in groups. Scientific  American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/their-pain-our-gain/ 
  • Chambliss, C., Cattai, A., Benton, P., Elghawy, A., Fan, M., Thompson, K., Scavicchio, D., & Tanenbaum, J.  (2012). Freudenfreude and Schadenfreude Test (FAST) scores of depressed and non-depressed  undergraduates. Psychological Reports, 111(1), 115–116. https://doi.org/10.2466/02.07.21.PR0.111.4.115-116
  • Chambliss, C. (2018). The Role of freudenfreude and schadenfreude in depression. World J Psychiatry  Ment Health Res ,2(1), 1009. https://www.remedypublications.com/open-access/the-role-of- freudenfreude-and-schadenfreude-indepression-277.pdf 
  • Crocker, J., Olivier, M., & Nuer, N (2009). Self-image goals and compassionate goals: Costs and benefits.  Self Identity, 16;8(2-3), 251-269. doi: 10.1080/15298860802505160.
  • Morelli, S., Lieberman, M., & Zaki, J. (2015). The emerging study of positive empathy. Social and  Personality Psychology Compass 9(2), 57–68. DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12157
  • Telle, N. & Pfister, H. (2015). Positive empathy and prosocial behavior: A neglected link. Emotion  Review, 8(2), 154 –163. DOI: 10.1177/1754073915586817
  • Ouwerkerk, J. W., van Dijk, W. W., Vonkeman, C. C., & Spears, R. (2016). When we enjoy bad news about  other groups: A social identity approach to out-group schadenfreude. Group Processes &  Intergroup Relations, 21(1), 214–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430216663018