Envy/Jealousy Tendency is we measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0273, within the Social family. The core principle: we measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
We measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves.
Plain-English Definition
We measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves.
Feynman Explanation
Munger: 'It's not greed that drives the world, but envy.'
Core Principle
We measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
We measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Munger: 'It's not greed that drives the world, but envy.'
Examples
- Comp negotiations driven by what peers earn, not by absolute value.
- Relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes.
Pending editorial review.
Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
When this element shows up in a diagnostic, the instinct is to train people out of it. Training rarely moves it. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: we measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: munger: 'It's not greed that drives the world, but envy.'. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes. It is amplified whenever relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes. Inside organizations that shows up as relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to design comp systems aware of relative comparison, not just absolutes. Measure the behavior, not the sentiment. A survey will tell you how people feel about this; only observed action tells you whether it changed.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Design comp systems aware of relative comparison, not just absolutes.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Design comp systems aware of relative comparison, not just absolutes.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
We dismiss the ideas and merits of people we dislike.
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We attribute our own actions to situations but others' actions to their character.
We favor people who are similar to us or who like us.
Sacrificing for others without expecting a personal reward.
Masking the sponsors of a message to make it appear grassroots.
Disagreement grows more extreme as the parties think more about the issue.
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
We accept vague, general statements as personally meaningful.
Adding the word 'because' (with any reason) increases compliance dramatically.
Behaviors spread through groups via observation and imitation.
Where Envy/Jealousy Tendency is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
Questions about Envy/Jealousy Tendency
- What is Envy/Jealousy Tendency?
- Envy/Jealousy Tendency is we measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0273, within the Social family. The core principle: we measure ourselves against peers, not against our past selves. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Envy/Jealousy Tendency?
- Relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0273).
- How is Envy/Jealousy Tendency exploited?
- Relative status drives more behavior than absolute outcomes.
- How do you design around Envy/Jealousy Tendency?
- Design comp systems aware of relative comparison, not just absolutes.
- Which behavioral dimension does Envy/Jealousy Tendency belong to?
- Envy/Jealousy Tendency is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Social", class "Mental Model". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0273 and its evidence grade is B.