https://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/it-would-seem-that-some-socially?r=u1ho&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Many people believe we live in a “just world.”
The idea is that people generally think that the default is that the world is inherently fair. And believe unfairness is the result of mistakes or misconceptions or some kind of human error.
Which might help to explain the role of “compensatory self-enhancement.”
Researchers have found that when people learn that an individual is superior to themselves on some valued quality, their own self-esteem is thwarted.
People then respond by engaging in downward comparisons. They denigrate the threatening individual. After doing this, people report experiencing a boost in their mood.
For example, if someone sees a strikingly attractive person, they might say, “Well, that person is probably an airhead (I’m smarter than him/her).” Or if they see a rich person, they might say, “That person is probably immoral (I’m a better person than him/her).”
Similarity seems to play a role. People who feel threatened after learning someone similar to themselves is better on some quality feel especially good after engaging in downward comparison or denigrating them.
“That guy who is kind of similar to me might be more attractive but, I’ll bet he’s shallow. (There, now I feel better).”
Together, just world belief and compensatory self-enhancement imply that people resist the idea others could have a wide array of advantages and talents.
It just doesn’t seem fair that a rich guy might also be ethical, kind, good-looking, intelligent, and funny.
A while back I read a fascinating analogy comparing and contrasting our intuitions about “funny” vs. “intelligent.”
Consider the statement: “Some people are funnier than others.”
This is obviously true. Even within the same family there are people who are funnier than others. During my final year of high school, I lived with two brothers. One of them had a good sense of humor, but the other was one of the funniest people I’d ever met.
Now imagine someone says “You can’t just make a generalized statement like that. What do you even mean by ‘funny?’ There are different types of humor. Just because you’re funny doesn’t mean you’re a good person. I have a friend who isn’t very funny but he works really hard. How do you even measure ‘funny’ anyway—can a funniness test even be accurate?”