Keyword: schadenfreude

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Pleasure in Other People’s Misfortune March 7, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do we slow down at accidents, follow celebrity scandals, and buy newspapers with tragic headlines? Armand DiMele examines schadenfreude, the universal tendency to feel pleasure at others’ misfortune, drawing on neuroscience showing the brain’s reward centers light up in response to tragedy and arguing this impulse is far more widespread than most people admit.

Why We Have Uncomfortable Emotions December 7, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Uncomfortable feelings like jealousy, disgust, and schadenfreude exist because they once helped us survive. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti apply evolutionary psychology to seven “deadly sentiments,” showing how emotions override rational thought to shift behavior instantly in the face of unforeseen threats or losses.