envy

The basis for envy is wanting what another person has, and it's proposed that it's not actually an unhelpful thing to feel; it's a part of our development of what Psychology Today describes as our "self-evaluation," in which we compare ourselves to others and compete with them. We assess rank and status compared with other humans, and the theory goes, as Richard Smith explains in The Evolutionary Psychology Of Envy, that "envy has played an important role in humans' quest for the resources necessary for successful survival and reproduction over the course of evolutionary time". Envy motivates us to strive to take what another person possesses, achieve it for ourselves, or better it; and all these impulses were pretty good ones when it came to guaranteeing the survival and evolution of early humans fighting for resources. Next time you're bitten by the envy bug, be aware that it may be part of a very ancient part of your brain.