When We Enjoy Bad News About Other Groups: A Social Identity Approach to Out-Group Schadenfreude

• In Event: Top Papers in Intergroup Communication

Abstract

A field study (N = 203) investigates schadenfreude (pleasure at the misfortune of others) as an emotional response to news about an out-group misfortune in an intergroup consumer context. More specifically, schadenfreude reactions of BlackBerry-users to fictitious, negative news reports about Apple’s iPhone are analyzed. Consistent with social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and intergroup emotion theory (Smith, 1993), the results demonstrate that affective in-group identification increases schadenfreude reactions to news about an out-group misfortune, provided that this misfortune occurs in a domain of interest to news recipients. Additional findings show that this interaction effect is (a) still observed when controlling for affective dispositions towards the out-group, and (b) is not obtained on emotional reactions shaped by empathic concerns (i.e., sympathy). Moreover, the results suggest that schadenfreude reactions strengthen subsequent intentions to share the news about the out-group’s misfortune with others or to engage in so-called negative Word-of-Mouth communication.

Authors

• Jaap W. Ouwerkerk, VU U Amsterdam

• Wilco W. Van Dijk, Leiden U

• Charlotte Vonkeman, VU U Amsterdam

• Russell Spears, U of Groningen