Schadenfreude is a German word which means feeling happy when bad things happen to others, such as when a fellow student stands up in class to answer a teacher’s question but answers incorrectly. On an international scale, an especially shameful example of schadenfreude might be feeling happy when an earthquake hits a country that has bad relations with your country.

Freudenfreude is the opposite of schadenfreude. With freudenfreude, we are happy when good things happen to others. We celebrate other’s happiness. For instance, when another student performs a dance in front of the school, and everyone is impressed by their talent. Or being happy for our opponent in badminton. We used to beat them, but now they have improved; so, they win instead. Any success, no matter how small, can be celebrated. Internationally, we can celebrate economic growth in another country that brings people there more and safer jobs, more secure income, and more prestige.

In education contexts, an example of freudenfreude would be groupmates feeling glad when a low-achieving group member improves, thanks in part to the assistance of their fellow group members. As the saying goes, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” By seeing a groupmate, or anyone else, improve is a great feeling, especially when we had a hand in making that improvement happen. That’s really a super power. Marvel comics characters will be envious!