E-Book Overview
Envy arouses questions about fairness and unequal distribution of resources. Scavenging for hidden treasures and exploiting the acquisition of what is perceived to be free also imply underlying envy and greed. Envy, in isolation, can be destructive to psychological processes. Endowments of envy, however, are not as bleak and unsparing as they at first may appear. Envy, recognized and intelligently managed, transforms and may spur admiration, emulation, aspiration, empathy, and developmental advantages. Here, Ninivaggi offers a theory of envy and explores various ideas and concepts related to it. He proposes research paradigms for testability, advances principles and guidelines for pragmatic applications in psychotherapies and psychoeducation, and considers new paths for further discovery.
E-Book Content
Envy Theory
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Envy Theory Perspectives on the Psychology of Envy
Frank John Ninivaggi, M.D.
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
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Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2010 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ninivaggi, Frank John. Envy theory : perspectives on the psychology of envy / Frank John Ninivaggi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4422-0574-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4422-0576-5 (electronic) 1. Envy. I. Title. BF575.E65N56 2010 152.4'8—dc22 2010010841
⬁ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
Introduction
1
Part I
ENVY THEORY
Chapter 1
Love and the Complex Problem of Destructiveness
17
Chapter 2
Inborn Envy
43
Chapter 3
An Introduction to the Nuclear Envy Concept
73
Chapter 4
Human Psychological Development: Theoretical Underpinnings
119
The Subjective, Intrapsychic, and Phenomenological Experience of Envy: Envy and Related States of Mind
181
Chapter 6
The Nuclear Genesis of Envy
215
Chapter 7
A Microscopic Analysis of Envy’s Dedicated Pathways
241
Envy’s Conscious Derivatives: Signs, Symptoms, and Surface Indicators of Envy’s Inner Dialogue
267
Chapter 5
Chapter 8
v
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Contents
Part II
THE HEALTHY MATURATION OF ENVY
Chapter 9
The Healthy Maturation of Envy: Admiration, Emulation, Gratitude, Empathy, and Helpfulness
287
Part III
ENVY IN HISTORY AND LITERATURE
Chapter 10
Recognizing Envy: Historical and Clinical Contexts
339
Afterword
353
References
359
Index
373<