Pity and envy are the two ambivalent emotions produced by the warmth-competence stereotype matrix.
Evidence
Groups seen as warm but incompetent, including older people and people with disabilities, as well as young children. People report pity or sympathy, itself an ambivalent emotion (feeling sorry for someone holds only as long as their status remains lower). … Groups stereotyped as cold but competent, which is the opposite kind of ambivalence, including rich people, businesspeople, and technical experts. People reported that they elicit envy, also an ambivalent emotion; they admire such people but also resent them. — Susan T. Fiske, Stereotype Content, 14
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the classic SCM finding that ambivalence (admiration plus resentment) is the emotional engine of prejudice — resonates with envy-of-the-competent dynamics in economic stratification debates.
- DEFINE: Defines the two ambivalent quadrants of the stereotype content model and the emotions that attend them.
Related
- Specific stereotype combinations elicit distinct prejudiced emotions toward out-groups. (similarity 0.85)
- Warmth and competence judgments predict distinct emotional reactions to groups (similarity 0.84)
- Stereotypes map onto warmth and competence, which predict specific emotional responses. (similarity 0.83)
- Groups are judged on perceived warmth and competence, which drive distinct emotions toward them (similarity 0.83)
- Mixed stereotypes combine high competence with low warmth or vice versa (similarity 0.83)
- Mixed warmth-and-competence stereotypes ideologically justify existing social hierarchies. (similarity 0.82)
- Prejudice splits into perceived warmth and competence dimensions (similarity 0.81)
- Envious and paternalistic prejudices are psychologically consistent mixed feelings, not ambivalent ones. (similarity 0.79)
- Groups seen as competing with the ingroup are stereotyped as low in warmth (similarity 0.78)
- Pity toward disadvantaged groups can reinforce inequality by implying incompetence. (similarity 0.78)