IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/pal/palchp/978-0-230-22740-8_6.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Envy and Narcissism in Contemporary Organizations

In: Workplace Envy

Author

Listed:
  • Bénédicte Vidaillet

Abstract

The mimesis theory has the merit of drawing our attention to behaviors that are easily observed in human communities, whatever their nature, and of helping us find the link between mimetism, envy, and violence. One essential aspect of this theory is that it places emphasis on the fundamental role of the other in the problematic of envy; an other who initially serves as a model and who progressively turns into a rival as he/she draws the attention of the envious. Extrapolating from this theory, one could conclude that envy would not exist if the construction of the subject were not intrinsically related to the other. Yet, Girard’s theory teaches nothing concerning this aspect. Based on the observation of mimetic behaviors, the theory merely reveals the fundamental role played by the other when he/she is used as a model, and states its consequences from an anthropological perspective. But it says nothing about the origin of this primordial “clash” with the other. Why does the other fascinate us so much? Why is the other placed in a position of model? Why does becoming like the model turn into a matter of life or death? Why are the slightest differences blown out of proportion by the person who “falls” victim to envy?

Suggested Citation

  • Bénédicte Vidaillet, 2008. "Envy and Narcissism in Contemporary Organizations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Workplace Envy, chapter 5, pages 92-118, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-22740-8_6
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230227408_6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-22740-8_6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.