Pleasure at another’s misfortune is evident in children as young as two
They say there is no joy like the joy at another’s misfortune, but at what age do we already know how to feel and express it?
Until now, researchers believed that children didn’t develop such a sophisticated emotion until the age of seven, but a new study conducted at the University of Haifa found evidence of schadenfreude in children as young as two. “The study strengthened the perception that schadenfreude is an evolutionary mechanism that develops within us as we cope with situations of inequality,” said Prof. Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory, of the University of Haifa’s Psychology Department, who led the study.