Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude in relation to tall poppy syndrome, envy and jealousy
As I mentioned in my previous post, in an egalitarian society such as witnessed in Australia — one that favors equality for all people — the natural order or country identity is such that everyone’s status is similar and all people or “poppies” should be the same height. If an individual’s “height” becomes too tall, they may be singled out and become a victim of Tall Poppy Syndrome. Those experiencing a feeling of joy with the victim’s fall from grace experience what Germans refer to as schadenfreude.
Schadenfreude literally means harm, joy or pleasure gained from another’s misfortune. Several other languages have words with similar meanings but English’s closest equivalent is gloat which may have some connotations of schadenfreude but may also be only about self, such as bragging, as well as no involvement of malice towards another. Schadenfreude is often associated envy and jealousy, while envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably and confused with one another.
Envy, above all else, is an emotion which makes it an abstraction (the experience, cognitive appraisals, social conventions, physiological responses) and potentially confusing. Simply put, envy transpires when a person lacks or covets what another person possesses such as talent, accomplishment, or ownership or wishes that the envied person did not possess one of these characteristics. Envy requires two parties, according to vocabulary.com, and it is a social comparison to another person and a dominant influence on self-concept. It may be an unpleasant or even painful emotion distinguished by feelings of inferiority, hostility, and resentment caused by an appreciation of a desired characteristic of another person, group or object.
Envy transpires when a person lacks what the other has such as: worthier qualities, accomplishments, or possessions which could reflect poorly on the envier, most commonly with their peers. Envy may also include wishing the other person did not have a certain distinction, and the desire to inflict or want misfortune on that particular person; it could be said the more one envies, the more self-pity.
Jealousy, on the other hand, requires three parties such as a man, wife, and person-object. It is an unpleasant emotion one experiences when someone fears they have lost or perhaps already has lost what was once theirs or perceived what was theirs but, in reality, was not.
To summarize, TPS, envy, and schadenfreude are often associated with each other but may appear independently. Early Australian dictionary definition of TPS included envy as the part of syndrome and tall poppies themselves were viewed negatively. TPS definition changed with societal norms and scientific studies and envy was dropped from later definitions while some poppies were deemed good. Worthiness is now more often associated with TPS than envy, the fallen did not deserve their height or deserved to lose it. The cutter, as long it is not the tall person himself, may experience schadenfreude with concomitant envy but an observer may experience schadenfreude only. Simple methods to remember the difference between envy and jealousy: envy involves two people, jealousy involves three people; the envier wants something of another person while the jealous person already has that something but fears losing or has actually lost something. For example: One might envy his wife’s cooking skills, but he is jealous when she is spending too much time with the neighbor…especially if that neighbor is a male.
