Envy: definitions, approaches and implications

Abstract

ABSTRACT While envy is a complex emotion to date, voluminous work has been done on the subject; however, no study has been conducted to resolve the debate on key envy-related concepts such as its definition, approaches and dimensions. Having its roots back in 1712, the explorations about envy have radically increased, especially in the twenty-first century, resulting in myriad theoretical and empirical developments. This paper takes this initiative by reviewing 76 systematically selected articles published in the services context in 41 journals to summarize the evolution of envy while addressing key research questions (what is envy, its nature, antecedents, and outcomes). Based on the review, this study tries to resolve the debate regarding two key elements of envy: its definition and approaches, i.e. unitary and dual. Following the unitary approach, we reported the most practical definition of envy and found that the view of self generates positive outcomes, and the view of others generates negative outcomes of envy.