Discussion
decreasing schadenfreude feelings
The aim of this study was to test whether compassion training can change attitudes and feelings toward a disliked person. Furthermore, we tested here if the beneficial effects of compassion training were transfer effects as the training did not target or mention the disliked person. Our manipulation check confirmed that only compassion trainees expressed an increase of compassion feelings in response to a misfortune of a disliked other after 5 weeks of intervention. In addition, participants in both emotion regulation interventions—compassion and reappraisal trainings—reported less schadenfreude feelings toward this disliked person at post-training compared to their pre-training ratings. Finally, only compassion trainees showed an increase of closeness feelings toward the disliked person at post-training. The findings reported here suggest that compassion training is a beneficial strategy to enhance difficult social relationships and, thanks to its transfer effects, could be considered an indirect conflict resolution intervention.Here we show for the first time that both emotion regulation interventions (compassion training and reappraisal training) were efficient in decreasing schadenfreude feelings. Future research may study whether the two interventions decrease schadenfreude through distinct mechanisms. Roseman and SteeleImportantly, the increase found in closeness feelings toward the disliked person extends past research in which contemplative interventions were found to promote social connectednessThus, a possible implication of this finding is that increased feelings of closeness may overcome consequences of nonvoluntary interactions and promote constructive dynamics in social relations with disliked others. A next step that future research should address is to use a longitudinal design aimed at testing whether increases in closeness translate into sustained changes in relationships with the disliked person, and result in more constructive interactions.Conversely, reappraisal participants in the current study did not experience a significant increase in closeness feelings toward the disliked other, differing from previous findings showing that the frequent use of reappraisal techniques leads to closer relationshipsIn addition to these potential contributions, the current study also has limitations that could be addressed in future research. This research was limited by the use of self-reports. As schadenfreude may be affected by social desirability due to its attributed immoral nature, scholars have suggested to use implicit measures of schadenfreude such as the use of facial electromyographyDespite these limitations, the current study shed light on the role of emotion regulation interventions in tense interpersonal relationships. The present findings indicate that reappraisal training and compassion training are efficient interventions to decrease schadenfreude for a disliked person. Additional results suggest that compassion training is a way to promote healthier relationships by enhancing compassion feelings for a disliked person. Furthermore, compassion training acted as “social glue” as it increased closeness feelings toward a disliked person. Importantly, effects of compassion training were found toward the disliked person although the disliked person was not targeted during the training. This generalization is key as it may help to overcome one of the major obstacles faced by peacebuilding scholars and practitioners: the lack of motivation to change attitudes or emotions felt toward foes or outgroup members