Schadenfreude and the spread of political misfortune.

ABSTRACT: Schadenfreude is a social emotion that describes one's happiness at the misfortune of others. Because people experience schadenfreude to different extents, it can also be considered a trait. The present research aimed to develop a trait measure of schadenfreude and investigate the relationship between schadenfreude and political downfalls. We developed an item pool and used exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Study 2) factor analyses to establish a 12-item, two-factor schadenfreude measure: benign and malicious. We also assessed its test-retest reliability (Study 3) and convergent validity with related measures (Study 4). Findings supported a two-factor schadenfreude measure that produced valid and reliable scores (Studies 1-4). In an experiment, we found a positive correlation between

SUBMITTER: Crysel LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6124730 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature