title: On the counterfactual nature of envy: "It could have been me".
abstract: We examined whether counterfactual thinking influences the experience of envy. Counterfactual thinking refers to comparing the situation as it is to what it could have been, and these thought processes have been shown to lead to a variety of emotions. We predicted that for envy the counterfactual thought "it could have been me" would be important. In four studies we found a clear link between such counterfactual thoughts and the intensity of envy. Furthermore, Studies 3 and 4 revealed that a manipulation known to affect the extent of counterfactual thinking (the perception of being close to obtaining the desired outcome oneself), had an effect on the intensity of envy via counterfactual thoughts. This relationship between counterfactual thinking and the experience of envy allows for new predictions concerning situations under which envy is likely be more intense.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Psychology & TIBER , Tilburg University , Tilburg , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van de Ven
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeelenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D013850:Thinking
keywords: Appraisal; Counterfactual thinking; Envy; Social comparison