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If you have ever laughed when someone trips or drops their lunch, you understand the feeling. It might seem a bit mean, but that sudden jolt of pleasure is actually a normal human emotion. We call it schadenfreude (SHAH-den-froy-duh), a German word meaning joy at someone else's misfortune. People rarely discuss this feeling because it feels wrong, yet scientists say we should talk about it. Usually, schadenfreude is harmless, but sometimes it can lead to bigger problems.
Researchers are learning more about when and why people feel schadenfreude. They study how this common response can sometimes escalate into something dangerous. They are also finding ways to help young people recognize this feeling when it happens. The key lies in how we respond to this complex emotion. Without care, it can lead to bullying or a desire for revenge. Yet, in some specific situations, schadenfreude can even be used for good purposes.
Schadenfreude is complicated. It is the pleasure we feel when something goes wrong for another person. Usually, we do not cause the harm ourselves; we simply see or hear about the unlucky event. What causes this feeling depends on our age and our relationship to the person involved.
Simone Shamay-Tsoory, a psychologist at the University of Haifa in Israel, has studied this emotion in children as young as two. In a 2014 study, she found that toddlers felt schadenfreude when their mother paid more attention to a friend. In the study, mothers read a book to their child's friend while their own child played alone. The child became jealous. When the mother then "accidentally" spilled water on the book, the jealous child acted happy. When both children were treated equally, neither child was happy about the spill. The researchers identified this happiness as a clear sign of schadenfreude.
This is an example of "justice" schadenfreude. "It appears when someone who has hurt us gets what they deserve," explains psychologist Christian Cecconi from Roma Tre University in Italy. It is the feeling we get when a thief is caught. "Feeling satisfaction in that moment is natural," Cecconi says. "It's like justice has been restored."
But not all schadenfreude is about justice. An "aversion" type "happens when we dislike someone — even without a clear reason," Cecconi says. If you know someone has been rude, you might enjoy their misfortune. "Seeing that person fail makes us feel better," he notes. "It reminds us we're not like them."
Competition can also trigger schadenfreude. "This happens when someone seems to outshine us," Cecconi explains. If a peer gets a better grade and makes you envious, you might feel relief and happiness if they later get in trouble. It reminds you they are not perfect. You do not even need to know the person. People often enjoy it when celebrities face setbacks. This guilty pleasure is why reality shows and funny-fail videos are so popular.
Schadenfreude is common, but we do not hear much about it because it feels wrong. We know we should not be happy when others suffer, but it still happens. Why does this occur? A brain study from 2009 offers a clue. Japanese researchers used a brain scan called fMRI to study young adults. The participants read about a made-up person who was better than them at something or had higher status. This made them feel envious. Their brain scans showed activity in a region linked to pain, called the anterior cingulate cortex. Their envy caused emotional pain.
When the fictitious person later suffered a misfortune, a different brain area became active. This area, the ventral striatum, processes rewards. After the scan, participants reported feeling schadenfreude. The stronger their envy, the stronger their schadenfreude. The researchers concluded that this emotion helped soothe the pain of envy. "Even if schadenfreude might seem like a guilty emotion, it actually plays an important role," Cecconi concludes. "It helps us understand ourselves and our relationships with others."
Young children most often experience justice schadenfreude. But as they become teenagers, the feeling shifts toward the other types. This was the finding of a 2025 study in the journal Psicothema. "Adolescents display a more complex morality" than children, says the study's lead author, Antonio Cabrera-Vázquez. He is a graduate student in educational psychology at the University of Córdoba in Spain. When teens judge others, they are not just focused on whether a misfortune is deserved. They are "also influenced by interpersonal factors," he says, "such as liking or disliking others."
This shift to aversion schadenfreude can have real consequences. Cabrera-Vázquez studied almost 3,200 kids aged 10 to 17. Those up to age 13 reported higher levels of justice schadenfreude. Older teens reported more of the aversion type. They were also more likely to be involved in cyberbullying. Those who reported the lowest levels of justice schadenfreude were most likely to cyberbully others.
In a second study, Cabrera-Vázquez found that bullying was worse in classrooms without strong expectations for kindness. When students were expected to be kind, aggression was rare.
The connection? People who enjoy others' misfortunes tend to show other negative behaviors. They can be "manipulative, emotionally cold and socially aggressive," he says. They might spread rumors or form groups that exclude someone. Over time, these acts can grow into more serious harassment. "In this sense, pettiness and schadenfreude are not harmless feelings," Cabrera-Vázquez notes. They are "possible precursors to more serious, abusive behavior."
When we are young, we cannot help feeling schadenfreude. As we get older, we learn that empathy is a better response. By putting ourselves in another person's shoes, we can choose to help instead of laugh.
What if you are the target of bullying, online or in person? It is easy to feel hurt and angry. But focusing too much on these negative emotions can make people seek revenge. "That's a place you don't want to be," says Loren Toussaint, a psychologist at Luther College in Iowa who studies forgiveness. "Hatred destroys everything it touches, including you," he says. You might not notice its effects right away, but over time, it can lead to anxiety and depression. A person's stress response stays constantly activated, which can cause long-term health problems.
Poorer health can show up "even when people are just thinking about revenge," Toussaint says. "You don't have to actually be enacting it." Focusing on revenge can become almost like an addiction. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine say the desire for revenge activates the same brain circuits involved in drug and alcohol addictions.
Forgiveness is important for stopping this slide, Toussaint says. But he clarifies: Forgiveness is not the same as accepting or excusing bad behavior. "Forgiveness is saying at the very starting point, [what they did] was wrong," he explains. "But I'm not going to hold it against [them] in my heart for days, months, years to come."
The goal, at minimum, is to treat the person who hurt you in a neutral way. Sometimes forgiveness can repair a relationship. When it cannot, letting go of hatred still helps you return to a happier, healthier state. Happiness matters, Toussaint points out. It helps us flourish. Letting go of past hurts can restore happiness to someone focused on payback. Forgiving is not easy. It takes practice and a firm decision. "The absolute best thing you can do is stay committed to it," he advises. Think of it as a skill you can improve. For help, resources like the Forgiveness Foundation and Discover Forgiveness are available.
Because schadenfreude comes naturally, there may be ways to use it for good. Yael Zemack-Rugar, who studies consumer psychology at the University of Central Florida, was part of a team that found schadenfreude can boost fundraising. They shared this in the April 2025 Journal of Consumer Psychology.
Imagine your school is having a fundraiser. The study suggests that including a dunk tank or a pie-throwing contest could raise more money. The amount raised depends on who is the target. If a teacher, principal, or coach is sitting over the water, more students will pay to take part.
"These people normally have power over us," Zemack-Rugar says. "That makes it feel exciting and funny when we get to be in charge in a harmless way." Giving a teacher a face full of whipped cream temporarily levels the playing field. "People will enjoy knocking them down a peg," she says.
So, the next time you are at a school event, consider the dunk tank. We all enjoy knocking someone off their pedestal now and then. However, Zemack-Rugar adds, "this only works if they don't experience any real harm."