Motivation and Emotion

, Volume 39, Issue 6, pp 961–972 | Cite as

Effects of resource divisibility and expectations of sharing on envy

  • Yumi Inoue
  • Charles E. Hoogland
  • Hiroki Takehashi
  • Koji Murata
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

In three experiments, we provide evidence that resource divisibility and expectations of sharing influence the degree to which envy arises in response to another’s superior resources. We manipulated the resource divisibility (e.g., 2 coins worth approximately $5.50 each vs. a single note worth approximately $11) and expectations of sharing were measured (Experiments 1 and 2) and manipulated (Experiment 3). Findings in these three experiments supported our hypothesis that envy would be most strongly experienced in response to others who had highly divisible resources that participants did not believe would be shared. These findings offer novel insights into the adaptive function of envy, which may promote sharing of divisible resources.

Keywords

Envy Sharing Divisibility Expectations 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by The Japanese Group Dynamics Association. We would like to thank Erik M. Lund for helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yumi Inoue
    • 1
  • Charles E. Hoogland
    • 2
  • Hiroki Takehashi
    • 3
  • Koji Murata
    • 1
  1. 1.Graduate School of Social SciencesHitotsubashi UniversityKunitachishiJapan
  2. 2.University of KentuckyLexingtonUSA
  3. 3.Tokyo Future UniversityAdachiJapan

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