Abstract

This study verified that the concept of benign and malicious envy are independent and examined the influence and role of justice perception and direction of self-perceived socioeconomic status (SES) on each type of envy. To achieve this, a survey study (Study 1; general socioeconomic context) and an experimental study (Study 2; job promotion scenario) were conducted. In Study 1, justice perception was measured using the belief in a just world, whereas in Study 2, justice perception of the envied target was directly manipulated. Direction of self-perceived status was measured as the difference between subjective SES and objective SES to explore the interaction effect between justice perception and direction of self-perceived status on envy. The results of both studies indicate no significant relationship between benign envy and malicious envy. For benign envy, a significant main effect of justice perception was found, while for malicious envy, an interaction effect between justice perception and direction of self-perceived status was significant. Specifically, higher justice perception of the target was associated with stronger benign envy response. Furthermore, the negative relationship between justice perception and malicious envy was significant only when the direction of self-perceived status was downward. Conversely, this relationship was either positively significant (Study 1) or not significant (Study 2) when the direction of self-perceived status was upward. These findings highlight the conceptual independence of benign and malicious envy and the distinct roles of justice perception and direction of self-perceived status. Based on these findings, this study discusses the implications for understanding social issues related to malicious envy in Korean society and suggests potential solutions to address these challenges.