Jealousy vs. Envy
What is Difference between Jealousy and Envy:- The concepts jealousy and envy are often confused by some people, this because in their definitions they present certain similarities; however it is about two totally different human emotions .
Difference between Jealousy and Envy
Jealousy
Jealousy is often associated with emotional rivalries that is, in most cases have to do with love relationships. Jealousy arises when the individual is afraid of losing someone due to the intervention of a third party. But it is important to know that jealousy is not limited to relationships, they also occur in relationships of friendship, between parents and children and between brothers; in other words, they can be given whenever one person is linked to another and feels that the relationship is being threatened by the presence of someone else.
Among the main characteristics of jealousy are a series of negative thoughts and feelings that the person accumulates within him, such as insecurity, fear, impotence and anxiety. All this accompanied by the belief that he is losing his appreciated object. Jealousy can also be accompanied by other emotions such as anger, resentment and inadequacy.
Examples of jealousy:
- A girl is jealous because her mother pays more attention to her new little brother.
- A boy feels jealous of his girlfriend because she preferred to go to the movies with some friends instead of going with him.
- A child who is attracted to his mother feels jealous of his father (Oedipus complex).
- A girl is jealous because her best friend has a new friend with whom she spends a lot of time.
Envy
On the other hand, envy is associated with the desire felt by certain objects or characteristics that another person possesses. Envy is about wanting what another person has. It is usually related to material things and money, but it is not limited to this; since you can envy qualities and characteristics of other people. For example, one woman may envy the beauty of another. Also an old man could envy the youth of someone else.
Envy arises when in a certain way an individual considers another as superior or believes that that other person has a better quality of life. It is an emotion characterized by resentment, and the person who suffers it tends to want to influence pain to those people to whom it envies.
It can be accompanied by other feelings such as anger, suffering, and sadness; but in many cases there are people who do not externalize it even though they feel it. Envy is also characterized because the person who suffers from it feels inferior to the person envied or has a low self-esteem. Another reason why many people confuse these terms is probably because throughout history, both envy and jealousy have been related to the same color: green. Although some people also associate jealousy with the yellow color
Examples of Envy
- A girl is envious of the girl who posted the photos of her vacation on Facebook.
- A person is envious of their neighbors because they have remodeled the house.
- A child is envious of one of his classmates because he is a better student.
- A girl is envious because she does not have her neighbor’s wrists.
Key differences between Jealousy and Envy
- A jealous person feels that their relationship with the person they love is being threatened by the presence of someone else, while an envious person desires what someone else has.
- Often jealousy has more to do with the emotional aspect, while the envy in many cases is usually related to the desire for material possessions.
- Envy is considered one of the Seven Deadly Sins , but jealousy is not.
