Envy in Social Comparison–Behaviour Relationship: Is Social Comparison Always Bad?

Social comparison is a common method for self-evaluation and self-assessment. However, research of social comparison has pointed it as both beneficial (e.g. motivating) and deleterious (e.g. depressing). In attempt to explain this discrepancy, the present study examines the mediating role of envy in the relationship between social comparison and academic dishonesty. More precisely, two subtypes of envy are examined, namely benign and malicious envy. A total of 500 university students, aged between 18 and 27 years old, participated in this quantitative study. Structural model revealed that malicious envy fully mediates the relationship between social comparison and academic dishonesty, indicating that malicious feeling of envy generated from social comparison might prompt university students to strategize for dishonest acts. Conversely, benign envy generated from social comparison are less likely to prompt university students to such behaviour, signalling for the motivational nature of benign envy. The result highlights the need to distinguish between benign and malicious envy.