Competition reverses empathy so rivals’ suffering becomes pleasing.

Evidence

Conversely, competitive experiences, in which another’s gains bring suffering to oneself, generate counter empathy. Displays of joy by competitors distress their rivals, whereas displays of distress by competitors comfort their rivals. Even the belief that others will be cooperative or competitive elicit empathetic or counterempathetic reactions, respectively, to those others’ emotional experiences. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 646

Categorization

• SHARE: A neat, self-contained finding — schadenfreude as counter-empathy — worth sending to anyone into behavioral economics or game theory.
• CANDY: ‘Displays of distress by competitors comfort their rivals’ is a crisp, memorable line usable in casual conversation.
• XREF: connects to: False-need satisfaction reinforces the rat race and profitable domination. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 841