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Envy is a ubiquitous social emotion often associated with depression, hostility and shame. Often confused with jealousy which involves the fear or anger that a primary relationship is threatened by a third party, envy is an emotion focused on threats to status such that another person's "gain" is viewed as a "loss" for the self. There is very little in the cognitive behavioral literature on the nature and treatment of envy. In this article I outline the research on the nature of envy, the evolutionary model of envy, the relevance of an integrative CBT model that draws on Beck's Generic Cognitive Model and Emotional Schema Therapy, and the implications for case conceptualization and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined associations between individual differences in trait negative affect and appraisal biases during a marital conflict discussion in a sample of 300 middle-aged and older couples. We used the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) to quantify specific appraisal biases, defined as discrepancies between participant ratings of their spouses' levels of hostility, friendliness, and control during a marital disagreement relative to independent behavioral coding of these behavioral dimensions. Further, we examined the specific component affective traits (i.e., anxiety, depression, and anger) individually, as well as their independent effects in simultaneous analyses. Composite negative affectivity was associated with appraisals of the spouse as displaying more control, less friendliness, and more hostility than was evident in independent ratings. For the specific negative affects, depressive tendencies-and perhaps the closely related trait of anxiety-were associated with viewing the spouse as both more hostile and less warm or friendly than did independent observers. In contrast, individuals prone to anger perceived more control in their spouse's behavior than was rated by observers. The results support interpersonal and cognitive models of the role of appraisals in general negative affectivity and its specific components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used a daily diary design to evaluate a daily model of stress generation that included both daily sadness and hostility as precipitants, and interpersonal competence as a moderator variable. Our results indicated that daily stress generation was precipitated by daily hostile, but not sad, mood. Participants’ skill at initiating interactions influenced daily stress generation in an unexpected direction. Specifically, the positive daily relationship between hostility and dependent stress was stronger for those with higher initiation scores. The results suggest that stress generation at the daily level functions differently than stress generation involving major life events. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on stress generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has found that persistent hostility was associated with a different pattern of attributions than persistent sadness in dysphoric episodes (W. D. Scott, R. E. Ingram, & W. G. Shadel, 2003). In the present study, we attempted to extend these findings by examining another cognitive correlate of hostility in dysphoria: hostile cognition. Measures of dysphoria, trait anger, and hostile cognition were administered to college students. We found that the relationship between dysphoria and hostile cognition depended on the level of trait anger. Specifically, the presence of high trait anger in dysphoria was associated with high levels of hostile cognition whereas low trait anger in dysphoria was not associated with elevated hostile cognition. Moreover, the relationship between trait anger and hostile cognition was stronger among dysphoric participants. This finding adds to existing evidence of affective confounds in clinical research and suggests that discrete moods should be taken into account when assessing cognitive correlates in dysphoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the diathesis-stress model of sociotropy and autonomy in the prediction of dysphoria and self-reported hostility. Participants were 39 women who had recently relocated to the United States. Because participants relocated at approximately the same time and for the same reasons (husband enrolled in a university program), we were able to measure multiple stressors that occurred in the same context (relocation). We measured stress comprehensively using semistructured interviews and coded each negative stressor into interpersonal and achievement categories. The match between sociotropy and interpersonal stressors predicted dysphoria, whereas the match between autonomy and achievement stressors predicted hostility. Implications for the diathesis-stress model of sociotropy–autonomy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]