51--------- Successful people are nicer to those who are jealous of them, psychologists have found. The fear that they may become the target of malicious（恶意的）envy makes people act more helpfully toward people who they think might be jealous of them. Previous research found jealousy could be divided into benign and malicious envy. Those with benign envy were motivated to improve themselves, to do better so they could be more like the person they envied.52-------- The Dutch researchers then set out to question the effect on the target of the envy. In lab experiments a group of people were made to feel like they would be maliciously envied by being told they would receive an award of five euros（欧元）53-------The researchers thought that the deserved prize would lead to benign envy, while the undeserved prize would lead to malicious envy. Then the volunteer was asked to give time-consuming advice to a potentially envious person.People who had reason to think they would be the target of malicious envy were more likely to take the time to give advice than targets of benign envy. In another experiment, an experimenter dropped a number of erasers on the floor as the volunteer was leaving.54-------- He said: 'This sort of serves a useful group function. We all think better-off people should share with others but that's not something we are inclined to do when we are better off..55----------
F. People are more likely to help others if they think they are envious of them. G.. Sometimes the prize was deserved and was based on the score they were told they had earned on a quiz. But sometimes it was not based on their score at all. |