Admiration and Malicious Envy Among Chinese Adolescents: Differences in Retrospection and Anticipation

Previous studies have shown that anticipation induces stronger emotions than retrospection, a phenomenon known as temporal emotion asymmetry. However, prior research has been limited to Western contexts. Since Eastern populations often emphasise the past more than their Western counterparts, temporal emotion asymmetry may manifest differently. Therefore, we examined the temporal asymmetry of admiration and malicious envy among Chinese adolescents. We conducted five experiments: Actual events from a self-perspective (Experiment 1; N = 76), hypothetical events from a self-perspective (Experiment 2; N = 74), time travel from a self-perspective (Experiment 3; N = 96), forced-choice from a self-perspective (Experiment 4; N = 94) and forced-choice from an other-perspective (Experiment 5; N = 164). The results showed that admiration exhibited a past bias, with retrospection eliciting stronger admiration than anticipation. In contrast, malicious envy exhibited different patterns of temporal asymmetry. When the threat of future negative events was high, malicious envy exhibited a future bias; however, as this threat weakened, it shifted toward a past bias. These findings provide insights into the boundary effects of temporal emotion asymmetry. We recommend that, when fostering admiration in Chinese adolescents, greater emphasis should be placed on guiding them to recall others' accomplishments.