以前も取り上げたシャーデンフロイデーー他人の不幸を喜ぶ感情についての記事で ２才ですでにそうした感情をもっていることが明らかになった、と。
Pleasure at Another’s Misfortune Is Evident in Children as Young as Two
Even very young children will show signs of schadenfreude when an inequitable situation is rectified
Released: 26-Nov-2014 2:35 AM EST
Source Newsroom: University of Haifa
親、実子とその友達を一つの設定では、子供たちに遊ばせて、親が最初は無視し、やにわに本を音読しはじめるが、”偶然”（にみせかけて）コップの水をその本にこぼしてしまう。もう一つの設定では、友人を膝の上にのせて、その子に本を読み聞かせるが、またもや”偶然”（にみせかけて）コップの水を本にこぼしてしまう。
後者の設定で実子は、嬉しそうな顔をしたら、喜んで飛び跳ねたり、手を叩いたりしたが、前者ではそのような反応はなかった、と。つまり、２才の被験者で、すでに、他人の不幸を喜ぶ感情が認められた、と。
また、前者の設定の場合、実子が親と本の間に割ってはいったり、母親の髪の毛で遊んだりした子供もいたが、この嫉妬の反応は他人の不幸を喜ぶ反応よりも強烈なものであった、と。
競争関係にある者同士が限られた資源ーーー例えば、兄弟同士が母親の注意ーーーを求めて闘争するような結果として生じ、不平等な状況への反応として進化した感情であり、のちにこうした競争関係がなくても、他人の不幸をみて悦に入るような感情が生じることがあるようになるのではないか、と。
大人でも、金持が事故で死んだりすると、理性的には、不幸だ、と思うが、どこかで、ざまああみろ！ みたいに思って内心ほくそ笑むようなことが・・・・・・・ありますか？
Pleasure at Another’s Misfortune Is Evident in Children as Young as Two
Even very young children will show signs of schadenfreude when an inequitable situation is rectified
Released: 26-Nov-2014 2:35 AM EST
Source Newsroom: University of Haifa
Newswise — They say there is no joy like the joy at another’s misfortune, but at what age do we already know how to feel and express it?
Until now, researchers believed that children didn’t develop such a sophisticated emotion until the age of seven, but a new study conducted at the University of Haifa found evidence of schadenfreude in children as young as two.
“The study strengthened the perception that schadenfreude is an evolutionary mechanism that develops within us as we cope with situations of inequality,” said Prof. Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory, of the University of Haifa’s Psychology Department, who led the study.
Schadenfreude is an emotion of joy in the face of someone else’s misfortune, and it can be rooted in jealousy, competitiveness, or sometimes even hatred. According to one theory, schadenfreude is an evolutionary mechanism that develops as a result of competition over limited resources, for example, the struggle between two siblings over their parents’ attention. This mechanism, which develops at an early age, turns later on into a mechanism that enables us to feel pleasure at another’s misfortune even when there is no competition for resources.
the researchers set up 35 groups comprising a mother, her child, and a friend of the child who is the same age. The groups were subjected to two situations.
The first was an “equal” situation, in which the mother encouraged the children to play together, ignored them for two minutes, and then began to read a book aloud to herself for two minutes. After those two minutes, the mother was told to take a glass of water that was on the table and pour it by “accident” on the book. In the second, “unequal” situation, after the first two minutes the mother took the child that wasn’t hers on her lap and began reading the book aloud to him or her. Here, too, after two minutes, the mother spilled the cup of water on the book.
The researchers found that when the unequal situation was brought to an end, the mother’s own child showed visible signs of happiness, as expressed by jumping up and down, clapping his hands, or rolling on the floor. By contrast, when the water was spilled while the mother was reading the book to herself, there were no similar reactions. According to the researchers, the “misfortune” that made the children happy was the fact that their peer had stopped hearing the story, which strengthens the theory that schadenfreude is a social development that is a reaction to inequality.
During the study the researchers also found evidence of jealousy that expressed itself by children trying to force themselves between their mother and the book, or playing with their mother’s hair while the mother was reading the book to their friend. These expressions were stronger than the expressions of schadenfreude, which upholds the findings of previous studies that show jealousy is a stronger emotion than schadenfreude.
Apparently, therefore, the emotion of schadenfreude is embedded in children far earlier than previously thought. “Social comparisons, in which we compare what we have to what others have, as well as emotions of justice, develop at a very early age and constitute positive evolutionary mechanisms to cope with inequitable situations,” said Prof. Shamay-Tsoory. “Because social-comparison reactions are linked to character traits like self-esteem and altruism, it’s possible that people who think less of themselves are more likely to suffer from feelings of schadenfreude.”
親、実子とその友達を一つの設定では、子供たちに遊ばせて、親が最初は無視し、やにわに本を音読しはじめるが、”偶然”（にみせかけて）コップの水をその本にこぼしてしまう。もう一つの設定では、友人を膝の上にのせて、その子に本を読み聞かせるが、またもや”偶然”（にみせかけて）コップの水を本にこぼしてしまう。
後者の設定で実子は、嬉しそうな顔をしたら、喜んで飛び跳ねたり、手を叩いたりしたが、前者ではそのような反応はなかった、と。つまり、２才の被験者で、すでに、他人の不幸を喜ぶ感情が認められた、と。
また、前者の設定の場合、実子が親と本の間に割ってはいったり、母親の髪の毛で遊んだりした子供もいたが、この嫉妬の反応は他人の不幸を喜ぶ反応よりも強烈なものであった、と。
競争関係にある者同士が限られた資源ーーー例えば、兄弟同士が母親の注意ーーーを求めて闘争するような結果として生じ、不平等な状況への反応として進化した感情であり、のちにこうした競争関係がなくても、他人の不幸をみて悦に入るような感情が生じることがあるようになるのではないか、と。
大人でも、金持が事故で死んだりすると、理性的には、不幸だ、と思うが、どこかで、ざまああみろ！ みたいに思って内心ほくそ笑むようなことが・・・・・・・ありますか？
