Abstract:  Most previous research in the envy literature has focused on one’s envy toward another person. Thus, there has been limited research attention on being the target of another person’s envy. After clarifying the definition of being envied and its nature as an ambivalent experience, this paper lays out the theoretical basis for the construct of being envied, and describes the potential antecedents of the ambivalent affective experience of being envied as being related to individual, leadership, organizational and cultural variables. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the mitigating and intensifying strategies that can be used by the envied to cope with the envy from others, and the roles of individual cognitive appraisal and cultural factors in shaping how the envied chooses coping strategies. Future research should examine the relationship between organizational and cultural factors, and being envied; the influence of prediction errors of the envied on their choice of coping strategies; and the dual influence mechanisms in the relationships between being envied and its outcomes.

Key words: envy, being envied, ambivalent experience, social comparison, coping strategy