The Mechanism By Which Childhood Maltreatment Affects Benign/Malicious Envy

Envy refers to the complex negative emotions that arise when individuals perceive that they lack the advantages that others have,such as wealth and status in upward social comparison.It will harm the individual’s physical or mental health.Envy can be divided into two kinds of envy: benign envy and malicious envy.Previous studies have found that childhood maltreatment can significantly and positively predict general envy.However,the relationship between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy and its underlying mechanism is still unclear.Therefore,this study aims to explore the mechanism of childhood maltreatment on benign/malicious envy from different perspectives through five studies,thereby effectively suppressing envy,especially malicious envy.In study 1,2,and 3,we used a cross-sectional design,a longitudinal design,and a daily diary method to collect data,respectively.The results of all three studies indicated a significant mediating role of self-esteem between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy.Study 4further explored the role of self-esteem and its protective and risk factors between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy based on study 1,2,3.The analysis of multiple mediating effects shows that authentic pride and hubristic pride play a significant mediating role between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy,and "authentic pride-self-esteem" and "hubristic pride-self-esteem" play a significant chain mediating role between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy.Study 5 used the VBM method to explore the neural basis of childhood maltreatment affects benign/malicious envy.108 participants completed structural magnetic resonance scanning and questionnaire measurements.The results showed that the gray matter volume of the brain area was not found to be correlated with the overall childhood maltreatment score,but it was found that childhood emotional maltreatment was significantly positively correlated with the gray matter volume of the medial prefrontal cortex(MPFC),left and right supramarginal,and only the gray matter volume of MPFC plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between childhood emotional maltreatment and benign/malicious envy.In summary,this study draws the following conclusions:(1)Childhood maltreatment affects benign/malicious envy through impairing self-esteem.(2)Self-esteem and its protective factors and risk factors play a partial mediating role between childhood maltreatment and benign/malicious envy.(3)MPFC may be the neural basis of childhood emotional maltreatment affecting benign/malicious envy.