Researchers
from University of Haifa
discovered that jealousy is a well developed feeling of envy and gloating in the
game of life “Who is better: you or me?” Do you still compete with somebody you
know? Are you a participant of a rats’ race for being the best?
Rats’ racing life-time marathon: “Who
wins in comparisons?”
Japanese scientists identified
region of the brain which controls feelings of
jealousy (Takahashi et al., 2009).
It is the same part which detects real physical
pain – perhaps explaining why feeling envious of your lover's preference hurts
so much. This “evil eye” spot is also associated with mental pain. The dot
which makes people delight in others' misfortune – is called “schadenfreude”.
We
often evaluate the self and others from social comparisons. We feel envy when
the target person has superior and self-relevant characteristics. Schadenfreude
occurs when envied persons fall from grace.
If
you’re an envious person, you have a hard time appreciating a lot of the good
things that are out there, because you’re too busy worrying about how they
reflect on the self. Jealousy is a false assumption that somebody is better,
sexier, and more attractive then you.
The
question: “Is it worth being that kind of person?”
To
be continued…
Dream
shamelessly…
Natalia
Levis-Fox,
Tel.:
+7 928 266 93 13
Private
practice, on-line consultations
License
No 314265119000560
References
Takahashi, H., Masato Matsuura, Michihiko Koeda,
Noriaki Yahata, Tetsuya Suhara, Motoichiro Kato and Yoshiro Okubo. Brain
Activations during Judgments of Positive Self-conscious Emotion and Positive
Basic Emotion: Pride and Joy. Cerebral Cortex April 2008;18:898--903doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm120
Advance Access publication July 17, 2007.
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