The Complexities of Envy: Understanding the Difference Between Passive and Active Envy

I make the distinction between active and passive envy. Passive envy is what we feel every day. Naturally, as we look on Facebook and we see other people having a great vacation, we go, their life is better than mine, damn it! We feel that every day, and we need to admit it. It’s very human, but it doesn’t lead to anything bad necessarily. Active envy can happen to anybody, but generally there are people who are envious types, and they’re prone to feeling such strong envy that they act on it. They not only just sort of feel it, they give you a comment that is targeted to make you feel bad.