Spitefulness and envy: The mediating role of justice sensitivity

Abstract

We examined the associations that the trait of spitefulness had with the benign and malicious forms of dispositional envy as well as the role that justice sensitivity played in these associations. In Study 1 (N = 901 undergraduate students), trait spitefulness was positively associated with malicious envy even when controlling for basic personality dimensions, whereas it was not associated with benign envy. In Study 2 (N = 356 undergraduate students) and Study 3 (N = 748 community members), the positive association that spitefulness had with malicious envy was mediated by the tendency to view oneself as a victim of injustice as well as a lack of concern about whether one treats others in a fair and just manner. Studies 2 and 3 also revealed that spitefulness had an unexpected indirect association with benign envy through the tendency to view oneself as a victim. Taken together, these results suggest that the connection between spitefulness and dispositional envy – especially the malicious form of envy – may be due, at least in part, to a self-centered view of fairness that is focused on one's own welfare combined with a disregard for whether others are treated in a fair or just manner.