THE IMPACT OF JUSTICE SENSITIVITY AND SOCIAL COMPARISON ON SCHADENFREUDE IN YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to inspect the impact of social comparison and justice sensitivity on schadenfreude in university students. The hypotheses of this study stated that, (a) Schadenfreude would be higher when misfortune occurs to the students of the rival university (out-group), and (b) schadenfreude would be higher when the failure is perceived as deserved. A sample of  200 participants (50 each scenario) aged 18 to 27 was selected through convenience sampling. The measures that were utilized included the Schadenfreude Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979), and the Short Dark Triad Scale (Jones & Paulhus, 2013). A 2-way ANOVA was conducted, and the results showed that group comparison (in-group and out-group) had a non-significant impact on schadenfreude, while justice sensitivity showed a significant effect on schadenfreude and the interaction effect of social comparison, and justice sensitivity was also non-significant.