Abstract:

The human psyche does not know a state free from feelings and emotions, including negative ones. This study aims to draw attention to envy and its devastating effect on interpersonal contacts. Envy is a universal phenomenon, it occurs in all epochs and in all societies. It is an anthropological constant that cannot be eradicated, we can only limit it (Schoeck, 2012). Helmut Schoeck in his works pointed out that it is precisely envy that causes economic and cultural stagnation. The source of this stagnation is the common perception that one man's success must come with robbing another. It seems that de Tocqueville might have been right when he wrote that envy is the most natural feeling and is a permanent component of democracy that promotes the pursuit of equality, but is unable to satisfy the desire for equality. Especially strongly, the desire to be more equal than others, i.e. envy in its pure form, is noticeable in corporations where material benefits and the first place in the ranking is the highest value.