In the Netherlands there is still a taboo on schadenfreude. Actually, you shouldn’t laugh at someone else’s misery, and yet we all do it sometimes. This is one of the reasons why programs such as Funniest home videos and the Idol preliminaries are so popular. Why do we find this funny and why is schadenfreude good for us?
Limits to schadenfreude
Of course, for all of us, there are limits to schadenfreude. What these boundaries are is partly based on culture, but also on personal living conditions. In Japan, schadenfreude is commonplace and this is also reflected in their television programs, which are experienced as far-reaching here in the Netherlands. But there are also major differences within Dutch culture. The more difficult someone’s living conditions are, the louder the jokes and the more gruesome the schadenfreude. This therefore strongly influences where the boundaries lie. For some, real injuries go too far to feel gloating and for others this makes little difference. Many people do not feel gloating when someone they like is unfairly criticized, but when they dislike the victim they do feel gloating. Schadenfreude mainly occurs when we feel that the disappointment is justified. Apparently our sense of justice plays a major role in this.
Schadenfreude is healthy
Many people are ashamed of gloating, because gloating simply means taking pleasure in someone else’s misery. People constantly compare themselves to others. For many people you only see their successes, they prefer not to share their failures. This gives many people the wrong impression that they often do poorly compared to other people. Being confronted with someone else’s failure is therefore a boost for your ego. An easy boost to your self-image and there is nothing wrong with that. Schadenfreude offers comfort. You realize that someone else is in a worse position than you and this puts your own situation into perspective. Laughter is healthy and makes you happy, so why not laugh at the blunders and stupid comments of others?
Research into schadenfreude
Hidehiko Takahashi is a neurological researcher at the National Institute of Radiology in Japan. He is also leader of the Molecular Mechanism of Emotional Decision Making project. This gentleman has done research into the mechanism of schadenfreude and he discovered that the same parts of the brain light up during schadenfreude that are active during sex, drugs and food. Apparently, when we gloat, we release dopamine and experience a kind of pleasure. His research also showed that men experience schadenfreude more and faster than women. From this, the researchers concluded that men are more vengeful than women.
Enjoyment of all times
The oldest film form already uses the realization that people should laugh at the mistakes of others. From this, slapstick was born and schadenfreude still plays a major role in television programs. This is one of the reasons that people continue to watch reality programs. In the privacy of their own living room, people dare to let themselves go and have unabashed fun about the blunders they see on television.