Envy

Envy comes in two forms. Benign envy, felt when someone's success seems deserved and reachable, pushes people to improve and even to pay more for the product the envied person owns. Malicious envy pushes people to pull others down: in one experiment, six in ten paid their own money to destroy others' earnings.

What the report found

1. Envy needs a comparison. People envy those who are similar to them and better off in something that matters to their sense of self. Distant superstars draw admiration; neighbours and colleagues draw envy.
2. It comes in two forms. Benign envy pushes people to level themselves up, and in experiments it motivated harder work than admiration did. Malicious envy pushes people to pull the other person down.
3. Envy sells, in two directions. Benign envy made people willing to pay more for the very product the envied person owned; malicious envy made them prefer a rival product.
4. Relative position matters to happiness. University employees who learned they earned less than colleagues became less satisfied and more likely to look for another job; those who learned they earned more gained nothing.
5. It can turn costly. In one experiment, six in ten people paid their own money to destroy other people's winnings. Online, though, most people browsing social media felt more happiness than envy.

What is inside

1. What envy is and why we have it
2. Two kinds of envy
3. Envy and what we buy
4. Envy across life
5. When envy misleads
6. Living with envy

Plus a map of where envy shapes everyday choices, a table of levers and a graded list of claims.

Who it is for

For marketers, employers, HR teams, social media managers and anyone who has felt the sting of someone else's success.

How we work

Human Forces reports explain one deep need and the effects that grow from it. Every claim is graded Established, Emerging or Untested. Where researchers disagree, as they do on whether envy can be good for us, both sides are set out before we say where we stand.

Cite this report

The Why We Project (2026) Envy: Wanting what others have. Human Forces No. 12. Dubai: Why We Tech Ltd. Available at: thewhyweproject.com