Table 5. System of Categories and their Frequencies for Schadenfreude and Sympathy.
| Category | Schadenfreude | Sympathy |
|---|---|---|
| subcategory | (N = 29) | (N = 33) |
| Involved in the situation | ||
| observer | 29 | 33 |
| target of emotion | 29 | 33 |
| wrongdoer | – | 13 |
| bystander | 23 | 19 |
| Closeness of relation from observer to the target of emotion | ||
| close | 11 | 20 |
| distant | 15 | 4 |
| unfamiliar | 3 | 9 |
| Damage affected | ||
| target of emotion | 29 | 23 |
| bystander | 2 | – |
| Observer’s evaluation of target of emotion | ||
| negative | 24 | 2 |
| positive | 1 | – |
| self-comparison | 9 | – |
| Observer’s negative evaluation of the wrongdoer | – | 5 |
| Target of emotion acts negative beforehand | ||
| towards observer | 12 | – |
| towards bystander | 13 | – |
| Behavior of observer within the situation | ||
| positive | – | 2 |
| negative | 2 | – |
| intention | – | 4 |
| Behavior of bystander within the situation | ||
| positive | – | – |
| negative | – | 12 |
| Further experienced feelings of the observer | ||
| respect | – | 1 |
| consternation | – | 1 |
| helplessness | – | 1 |
| guilt | – | 1 |
| sadness | – | 1 |
| hatred | – | 2 |
| contempt | – | 1 |
| incomprehension | – | 1 |
| anger | 1 | – |
| rage | 1 | – |
| embarrassment | 1 | – |
| sympathy | 1 | – |
| satisfaction | 1 | – |
| Experienced characteristics of the situation by the observer | ||
| controllability of events | – | 18 |
| comprehensible/ similar situation | – | 12 |
| vice versa-situation | 7 | – |
| fulfilling the observer’s predictions | 9 | – |
Notes. Numbers indicate the recollections containing the described category/ subcategory. Dashes indicate that none of the recollections have such a category/ subcategory. The numbers in bracket beneath schadenfreude and sympathy show the number of recollections for these emotions.