Schadenfreude as a mate-value-tracking mechanism. Replication and extension of Colyn and Gordon (2013).

The present research provides a replication and extension of L. A. Colyn and A. K. Gordon's (2013) study on gender differences in schadenfreude. An experiment-in which both the gender of the unfortunate other and the dimension on which the misfortune occurred were manipulated-showed that female participants reported more schadenfreude when a same-gender other (vs. an opposite-gender other) experienced a misfortune on the dimension of physical attractiveness (vs. social status), whereas male participants reported more schadenfreude when a same-gender other (vs. an opposite-gender other) experienced a misfortune on the dimension of social status (vs. physical attractiveness). In the discussion, differences between our results and those of Colyn and Gordon are discussed.