Abstract

The malicious envy felt by individuals due to social structural problems is more serious than ever. Recently, as internet and Social Network Site (SNS) have been developed, researches on dispositional envy and psychological health are increasing. Dispositional envy is closely related to attachment insecurity because it occurs mainly in relationships with surrounding people. Studies have also shown that insecure attachment can impair psychological well-being and make the individual vulnerable to depression. Attachment instability and envy both decrease psychological health. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attachment instability and psychological health, mediated by dispositional envy. The study sample consisted of 155 males and 194 females participants with an average age of 40.16 years (SD=10.66). The self-report measures of collecting data are comprised of Dispositional Envy Scale, Experience of Close Relationship, Beck Depression Inventory and Psychological well-being. Simple correlation showed that attachment instability and envy were highly correlated with depression and psychological well-being. Also, the multiple regression analysis showed that envy mediated partially between attachment instability and psychological health. Results suggest that people with insecure attachment exhibit poor psychological health because of feelings of envy. The implications and limitations of this research were discussed.

Keywords: Attachment instability; Dispositional envy; Emotional well-being; Psychological health