Temperatures of envy : associations between temperature perceptions and experiences of envy.

Abstract

Envy is generally thought of as a negative emotional response involving a contrast between oneself and another. In its proper form, it can have detrimental effects upon relational interactions and attentional resources, but recent evidence indicates that two forms of envy exist. While malicious envy is characteristically hostile, benign envy is related to admiration and involves a motivational component. In light of research demonstrating associations between temperature and affect, the present research examines associations between temperature perception and envy. In study 1, participants primed with sentence-unscrambling tasks involving heat-associated words reported greater maliciousness in subsequent recalls of envy. In study 2, participants who recalled an experience of benign envy perceived ambient temperature as warmer than those who recalled an experience of malicious envy. In study 3, an admiration condition was added in order to better understand the influence of positive, upward evaluations of others on temperature perceptions in experiences of envy. Participants recalling benign envy again perceived warmer temperatures than in the malicious condition, and estimates in the admiration condition fell in between those of the benign and malicious conditions. Consistent with previous research, benign envy was found to involve more interpersonal overlap than admiration or malicious envy, and was demonstrated to be the least comfortable of the emotions to recall. Malicious envy, on the other hand, was seen to be a cooler, more comfortable experience. The differences between the benign and admiration conditions in particular highlight the frustrating, often motivational aspect of benign envy absent in experiences of admiration.