Brief mindfulness and self-compassion program (Mind-OP) for reducing envy: randomized trial with university students

Abstract

Background: Envy is a negative, often painful emotion comprised of a social comparison followed by negative self-evaluations. Envy is associated with symptoms of several conditions (e.g., depression; anxiety). Mindfulness and self-compassion approaches have been shown to increase positive self-evaluations, suggesting that these approaches may work to reduce feelings of envy; however, to date no mindfulness-based interventions have targeted envy. Purpose: In the current study, we aimed to examine: (1) whether dispositional envy could be ameliorated using a tailored 5-week, online, self-guided mindfulness and selfcompassion intervention (Mind-OP+); and (2) whether the relevant mechanism of this improvement was through improvements to self-evaluations. Method: A total of n = 56 eligible participants were randomized into the Mind-OP+ treatment condition (n = 30) or the waitlist control condition (n = 26), wherein participants completed weekly self-report measures in parallel with the treatment condition. Results: Per-protocol analyses revealed that participants assigned to the Mind-OP+ condition experienced significantly reduced envy (d = .81), as well as significantly higher self-compassion (d = .54), as compared to those in the waitlist control group post-intervention. A mediation analysis revealed that this decrease in envy was fully mediated by increased self-compassion. Limitations: The small sample size of the current trial and lack of an active comparison condition limits the generalizability of the obtained results. Implications: This trial is the first to demonstrate that envy is a targetable and treatable emotion, and that self-compassion is a relevant mechanism of envy worthy of further investigation.