envy

Envy is a complex emotion involving longing for something that another person has, often accompanied by a sense of deprivation and resentment. It differs from jealousy, which typically concerns fears of losing a valued relationship; envy centers on desiring another's possessions, status, or traits. In some scholarly usages, envy is subdivided into benign envy, which can spur self-improvement by motivating goal pursuit, and malicious envy, which includes resentment and a wish to diminish the other.

Originating from the Latin invidia and the Old French envier, the term entered English in the early modern period. Across cultures, envy appears in moral and religious teachings as a potentially harmful impulse, yet it is also recognized as a common and sometimes motivating human experience.

Psychologically, envy arises from social comparison in which individuals assess themselves relative to others with higher status or possessions. It can correlate with lower well-being and interpersonal conflict, yet it can also prompt adaptive behavior such as striving for personal improvement. Envy can fuel aggression or social undermining when left unchecked.

Strategies for managing envy include gratitude for one’s own circumstances, cognitive reframing to reduce over-attachment to possessions, focusing on personal values, and practicing generosity toward others. Some therapies address destructive envy by altering thought patterns and social comparison habits.

Envy has appeared in literature and art as a powerful driver of character and plot, from classical tragedies to contemporary novels. It is often discussed alongside related concepts such as covetousness, jealousy, and resentment, and is a subject of ongoing study in psychology and philosophy.