Schadenfreude: A psychologist explains why we love to see others fail

Schadenfreude, the experience of pleasure at the misfortune of others, is a very common emotion. It may seem mean-spirited, vindictive even, but if you have ever felt guilt about the satisfaction you experienced when someone else messed up, don’t be too hard on yourself. 

Schadenfreude is the result of several deeply ingrained processes that the human brain spent millions of years evolving.

Raising your social status feels good because when we do it, it triggers the pleasure-creating reward pathways in our brain. The inverse is also true; studies have shown that having a very low social status is very stressful, and bad for your wellbeing.

But because it’s all subjective and relative, one way for your social status to improve is for someone else to lower theirs. And so, when we see someone mess up in ways that cause them to lose face, and thus lose social status, we can feel a burst of satisfaction as our own status is raised, at no cost to us.