Envy and Schadenfreude in the Classroom

Emotions are a central and indispensable part of everyday school life. Students are happy about successes in learning and are angry or sad when they experience failures, they are excited or scared when exams are due, and there is also the complex world of emotions associated with friendships and disputes in the classroom. In contrast, there are two emotions that have not yet been explored in the school context: Envy and Schadenfreude. Thus, while both emotions are already well researched in social psychological research with adults, the causes and consequences of envy and scha- denfreude amongst adolescents in everyday classroom situations are still unclear. In order to answer these questions, interviews will first be conducted with students and teachers, asking them in which situations they experience or observe envy and scha- denfreude in the school context and what role they believe these emotions play in learning and social relations in the classroom. The aim of the interviews is to get an overview of the role of these emotions. Subsequently, a large-scale survey of 1000 students (secondary school) will be conducted using a questionnaire based on the in- terviews and "experience sampling". "Experience sampling means that the partici- pants are asked to record their current experience of envy or schadenfreude at certain points throughout their day. Since these measurements are repeated at several points in time, it is then possible to calculate statistical models that can be used to draw con- clusions about which factors lead to the experience of envy and schadenfreude and what the consequences of envy and schadenfreude are. This study will also be the first to systematically develop and test age-appropriate measurement instruments to as- sess envy and schadenfreude in the school context, which can be used in further stud- ies and thus contribute to the work of other researchers. Understanding the psycho- logical processes that lead to envy and schadenfreude in adolescents will greatly en- hance understanding of both emotions in the school context; this knowledge can then be used to better support adolescents in school both in their learning and in their social relationships. School attendance can thus be made more pleasant and success- ful for some young people; herein lies the high practical relevance of the project.