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GloatingPleased about another's mishap

You see the other guy mess up and you can hardly keep from smiling. You are gloating at their

mishap. We all seem to enjoy seeing a jerk get what he deserves. Perhaps you feel a bit guilty or shameful for

not feeling compassion, but you believe their mishap is their own fault.

Definitions

1. Pleased about an event undesirable for another2. Pleased about another's mishap.

3. Celebrating a rival's mistakes.

Root: Probably from Old Norse glottasmile scornfully.

Note that envyand gloating have parallel structures. Envy is when you

feel bad because a rival did well, and gloating is when you feel good

because a rival did badly.

Related Terms

The English language terms: celebrate, crow, glory, rejoice, relish, rub it

in, taunting, triumph, vaunt, and whoop are inexact synonymsfor

gloating. The word Schadenfreude, borrowed from German is a close

synonym. We also speak of someone getting their just deserts or their

comeuppance when we are referring to gloating.

Humor and Gloating

Gloating is at the root of certain forms of humor. We laugh when the slap-stick comic falls down, especially

if he is not seriously hurt, and if the fall could have been prevented. We laugh when people in power are

knocked down a peg and are put in their place and perhaps made to look a bit silly. The emotion is

stronger the less we care about the person, the more we hold them responsible for the misdeed, and the

more the event was unexpected. Gloating is especially sweet if we envied the person or sought revenge on

them. All this makes for especially good gossip. Our laughing (and gossip) draws attention to the

preventable mistake (including hubris) and encourages others to learn from and avoid similar mistakes.

Pity, Responsibility, and Gloating

We feel pity and compassion when an unfortunate person is hurt. But we gloat when someone is hurt as a

result of their own clumsiness, stupidity, pride, greed, or carelessness. Our assessment of their responsibility

for the problem is the key distinction. If we believe they could have prevented the problem, we hold them

responsible for their own pain; we gloat and hope they learned their lesson. If the hurt was an unavoidable

misfortune, then we pity the poor person because they had no role or responsibility for the loss. Gloating is

about mistakes, compassion is about misfortune. The degree of hurt or suffering also distinguishes gloating

from pity. We gloat when the pain suffered seems proportional to our dislike of the person; in that case

they are simply getting what they deserve. But we are likely to pity someone who suffers a true tragedy,

even if we don't like them. The degree of dislike also influences the intensity of gloating. The more we dislike

the person, the more intensely we gloat at their mishap. This is reciprocity in action.

We feel contempt for someone who is demonstrating their characteristic lower stature. We gloat when

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Quotations

He who laughs last, laughs best

References

The Cognitive Structure of Emotions, by Andrew Ortony, Gerald L. Clore, Allan CollinsThe Origin of Emotions, Version 1.0, by Mark Devon

Fear, Sadness, A nger, Joy, Surprise, Disgus t, Contempt, Anger, Envy, Jealousy, Fright, Anxiety, Guilt, Shame, Relief, Hope, Sadness, Depres sion, Happines s, Pride, Love,

Gratitude, Compass ion, Aestheti c E xperience, Joy, Distress , Happy- for, Sorry-for, Rese ntment, Gloating, Pride, Shame, A dmiration, Reproach, Love, Hate, Hope, Fear,

Satis faction, Relief, Fears-c onfirmed, Dis appointment, Gratification, Gratitude, Anger, Remorse, power, dominance, stature, relationships

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