Envy as Predicted by the Stereotype Content Model: A Volatile Ambivalence

People have an affective response to others based on their perceived social category. This group-based affect is influenced by the target's perceived warmth and competence, and affects subsequent behavioral tendencies toward the target. One such group-based emotion is envy, an ambivalent reaction that entails both admiration and dislike to social targets. Envied targets elicit obligatory association but often also elicit active harm when social contexts allow it. This chapter discusses the mechanisms of this volatile ambivalent social emotion within the context of social psychological research and neuroscience. In addition, it addresses social psychological questions using both neuroscience and questionnaire data. First, the chapter describes envy as an ambivalent emotion, and then places it within the stereotype content model of intergroup emotions. It then examines its cognitive, neural, and behavioral concomitant.