Michelle asked, "Would you say that envy is a never ending cycle and that it is done unconsciously?"
I'll start by posting the social psychology term in class that I couldn't remember. Counter factual thinking - mentally stimulating what might have been. The bronze is happier than the silver because the bronze's thought process is, "I just made it into the top three;" whereas the silver's thought process is, "I was so close to getting first." You are more upset when your favorite basketball team loses by one point than you are if they got murdered (points wise). You are more upset if your lottery ticket number was one off from the jackpot than if the winning numbers were totally different. This is because the more actual the event the more counter factual thinking. The closer you are to getting something you want and then you do not, the more you think "what if?"
This relates to envy, if you were so close and then fail, you will be more envious to the person who did achieve whatever it is that you desired. A homeless man is not envious of the rich man, he is envious of the other homeless man who found a beat-up pillow. Envy is relative to what we have, and yes, an unconscious emotion. Yet, I do not feel like it is a never-ending-cycle, so that one envious emotion goes away when another starts. You can be envious of two things at once, or not envious of anything.
I also believe that the capacity to feel envy is a predisposition. Some people have natural personalities that make them compare themselves to others more than the average. It also deals with how you were raised, if you were raised to be thankful for what you have, you are a less envious person.
This leads me to my questions: Can it be taught to not be envious?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment