Just seconds after Edison’s phonograph stopped emitting its first words in the room, one of the academics who attended the presentation of the device, the Frenchman Jean Bouillaud, 82, jumped from his seat, grabbed him by the neck to the unfortunate man who was driving it at the time and began to shake him while he professed that it was a sham, a ventriloquist’s trick and that the noble human word could not be replaced by a metal. Bouillaud had not lost his mind or suffered an anxiety attack. Absolutely. It was a case of envy among colleagues , a sentiment as old as the man who has been said to be the most shameful of vices. In fact, it is considered so dishonorable that even such illustrious figures as the philosopher Francis Bacon have not hesitated to affirm that envy is a “rodent worm of merit and glory.” The Royal Spanish Academy, more lukewarm in its definition, considers it a “regret for the good of others .”
Envy is a universal phenomenon, but neither is it considered by psychologists one of the fundamental emotions, nor is there a facial expression that exactly characterizes it. In their work The Force of Emotions , the psychiatrists Christophe André and François Lelord indicate that this is because “unlike what happens with other feelings, communicating envy has never been an evolutionary advantage “. Indeed. Envy is a social taboo that is kept in silence because, deep down, it is a declaration of inferiority that should not be revealed in public . Plutarco already realized it almost 2000 years ago. In his study On Envy and Hate , the great Greek biographer and essayist stressed that “no one says they are envious”, but all kinds of excuses are alleged to justify that feeling. This behavior, according to the sociologist of the Free University of Language and Communication of Milan Francesco Alberoni, is due to the fact that envy is, in essence, “a reaction to the recognition of a defeat”.
In an attempt to deny our frustration, we behave in many different ways. Some people choose to imitate those they envy; others, if they are unable to achieve the same goal, become depressed and, finally, a third group of individuals opts to criticize and even conspire against those who have surpassed them. It all depends on the importance that is given to the object of our envy and, above all, on who the envied is.
We envy when we see that someone else has done something that we intensely desire or when another person achieves what is impossible for us to do. The result, in any case, is that ourself-esteem suffers. Psychologists point out that to compensate for this loss, which is unbearable for us, we have developed a series of very particular mechanisms. One of them is to underestimate the advantage of the other, that is, we convince ourselves that what they have achieved“it’s not so bad”. Other tactics go through looking for disadvantages in other fields that compensate for their superiority, distorting the other person as a whole or criticizing the system that allows such a situation to occur. In the most extreme cases, we can come to punish – both physically and psychologically – the envied for their advantage.
This is so, according to Alberoni, because “the envious wishes to get closer to the envied, to be recognized by him, to identify with him and to replace him”. In pathological cases, the envious can only find satisfaction in the complete destruction of the envied, in his total misfortune and even in his physical disappearance.
Researcher Melanie Klein, author of Envy and Gratitude , a work considered basic by many experts in this field, indicates that envy implies the desire to do harm.
It is also an attitude inherent in human beings and that develops in the early stages of life.childhood, a dubious honor that we seem to enjoy exclusively. According to Juan Carlos Senar, from the Spanish Ethology Society, “there is no evidence that a similar phenomenon occurs among animals, although they can use lies and deception to achieve objectives.”
In an article on the Psychology of Envy , Dr. Cecilio Panigua indicates that envy “is an echo of the feelings of inferiority and rivalry suffered by the child during his psychological development, with parents and siblings, which explains his universality and irrationality. “.
This proximity factor – of the child with those around him – seems especially important in the development of envy. Thus, the closer to us the people we envy are and when their superiority is demonstrated in the fields we value the most, the feeling of envy grows. On the contrary, it will not develop easily between people who hardly know each other or between whom there is an unbridgeable temporary or professional gulf. For example, it is more than doubtful that a current physicist can harbor feelings of hostility towards Einstein or Newton because of the successes they reaped in the same field.
Since envy is accentuated among people who live similar circumstances, it is among brothers and colleagues where it is most relevant. Ignazius Semmelweis was the protagonist of one of the most embarrassing cases of professional envy. In the mid-nineteenth century, this obstetrician at the Vienna General Hospital observed that a high percentage of women in labor died after giving birth due to puerperal fever, while in other hospitals, where midwives took care of their cleanliness and maintained cleanliness, that percentage it was noticeably inferior. When he proposed that delivery doctors wash their hands with calcium chloride to prevent infection, he was scorned. Even worse. Even when he proved his theory correct, his discovery remained ridiculous.
Semmelweis did not want to show his merits, but it is true that sometimes the envied can boast of them and do it in a way that offends the other. In that case it would be a provocation. In his novel Abel Sánchez -all a thesis on envy-, the philosopher and writer Miguel de Unamuno points out that “there is no greater scoundrel than honest people (…) I have no doubt that Abel would rub Cain’s snouts his grace”. Precisely, in Genesis an episode is described that illustrates the extent to which envy can reach between brothers when one of them shows off, even if unconsciously, his superior virtues. In chapter 37 of this biblical text it is described how Joseph, the favorite of Jacob, his father, was deeply envied by his brothers. Perhaps they had good reasons for doing so. Not only did Joseph enjoy a favored physique, but he was full of virtues, including the gift of prophecy. Also, he knew how to bring out the best in himself. So much so that all his brothers, except Rubén, who spoke out against him, decided to assassinate him. Another brother, Judah, came up with a better idea: sell him as a slave.
In fact, perhaps José was purposely bragging about his abilities. But even if good attributes are deliberately displayed to produce envy, this feeling is not as deep as when the success seen in the envied seems to us undeserved. In that case, hostility is triggered and envy gives way to rancor .
Psychologists know that the feeling of envy increases enormously when we verify that the circumstance that triggers it also collides with our sense of justice . This is what happens, for example, if we discover that a co-worker has obtained a promotion to which we opted not only undeservedly, but, in our opinion, because he is in more than good relations with the daughter of the president of the company.
In the history of philosophy, a recurring question has been whether in the feelings of envy lie the foundations of the sense of justice. Freud claims, in fact, that it emanates from the desires of the envious. Thus, in a family group, the siblings would observe the behavior of the others guided by envy, so that none of them is more favored than another by their parents. Ultimately, if one cannot be preferred, neither should be.
In view of the universal nature of this feeling, some experts have wondered if it is possible that its causes are more biological than psychological .
According to molecular biologist John Medina, author ofThe gene and the seven deadly sins, “analyze thebiology of envyit is an insurmountable problem, because a gene responsible for this feeling has not been isolated, nor has a region of the brain dedicated to envy been identified. “
Medina indicates that this can be explained either because our technology is not good enough or because “envy is only an attempt to organize subjective feelings that have no biological correlation.” In this sense, it points out that? Envy is associated with four types of behavior: those associated with sexual desire , greed , the desire for aggression and as a reaction to depression which, ultimately, can be both a component and an answer to envy ?. This link between a subjective feeling – envy – and a biological process – depression – is, for this author, closer than we suppose. So much so that, although Medina assures that there are no pills against envy, it is possible that antidepressants keep us safe from certain negative aspects associated with it.
But to what extent can we get to annoy our neighbor out of envy? A team of economists from the universities of Oxford and Warwick, in England, found that you can go a long way. In one experiment, Professors Andrew Oswald and Daniel Zizzo randomly awarded an amount of money to different people that increased over time. In the trial, each of them could destroy some of the other people’s money, but only at the cost of sacrificing some of their own. To the surprise of the researchers, most of the participants got rid of their fortune only to ensure that others did not get richer than they were.
And the thing is, Don Quixote already said: “All vices, Sancho, bring an I don’t know what delight with them; but not such envy, but disgust, resentments and rages.”
Abraham Alonso
