Social Aspects of Envy As all emotions, envy is socially constructed. Individual interaction, class variation and social institutions like schools, family, religion, and politics define envy for us. Envy is dependent on the beliefs about wealth, status, power, and how they ought to be distributed. In less complex societies envious objects are food, babies, and health; but in more complex societies they are wealth, status, and power. Envy, which is often mislabeled as jealousy, is …showed first 75 words of 322 total…

…showed last 75 words of 322 total…the rich are wealth addicts, thriving on the envy of others, and the rest are all closet addicts fooled into believing that they will one day be rich too (Slater, 1980:16). BIBLIOGRAPHY Foster, George. “The Anatomy of Envy: A Study in Symbolic Behavior.” 1972. Current Anthropology, 13:2, April. Shoeck, Helmut. 1970. Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. Slater, Philip. 1980. Wealth Addiction. New York: Dutton. David M. Hartshorn SOC 310 Love, Jealousy, Envy M-F 1130-1420 August 21, 2000