Jealousy and Envy

Jealousy and envy are emotions that are inherent features of social relationships. Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, they pertain to concepts that are distinctive of each other. In jealousy, an individual fears that he or she may lose something that he or she has to another individual. In envy, an individual wishes to acquire something that another person has. Thus, both terms reflect concerns over possessing something, and both entail some degree of competition with another individual. However, desire for gain is not the same as fear of loss, and while jealousy is a feature of triadic social dynamics, envy is a feature of dyadic relationships. Furthermore, even though envy and jealousy are both known for being negative experiences, jealousy is widely ...