Self-Image and Schadenfreude: Pleasure at Others’ Misfortune Enhances Satisfaction of Basic Human Needs

The present research tested whether observing the failure of another individual and experiencing schadenfreude (i.e., pleasure at others’ misfortune) enhances the satisfaction of basic psychological needs in terms of self-esteem, control, belongingness, and meaningful existence. Considering hypothetical scenarios (Experiment 1and Experiment 4), real-life past experiences (Experiment 2), and ostensibly real interactions (Experiment 3), four experiments revealed that individuals reported higher levels of need satisfaction when another’s setback occurred in a competitive circumstance rather than in a non-competitive circumstance. Moreover, the increased feeling of schadenfreude accounted for the effect of observing the misfortune befalling a competitor on the subsequent satisfaction of human needs. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for research on schadenfreude and future research directions are outlined