How jealousy rots away your motivation
When you find your friend, classmate or colleague making great achievements such as getting a top mark in an exam or getting the employment of the year award, it can significantly reduce your performance by making you think that you are not capable of reaching your peer’s performance (Rogers and Feller, 2016).
In a field study, 5740 students who were enrolled in an online course completed an essay writing assignment, and assessed three other students’ essays.
Students who assessed very high quality essays of other students were less likely to complete the course than those who assessed lower quality essays. Being exposed to peer excellence discouraged them to continue with the course.
The research suggests that when you are exposed to excellence by your peers, you should not think of your peer as a typical example, but rather a very unusual, exceptional case. This can prevent you from feeling discouraged by your peer’s achievement and believing that you are not capable of achieving the same level of performance.
So focus your attention on your own work, taking confidence in your own capabilities, rather than comparing yourself with someone else. Indeed, envy rots the bones, and jealousy kills your self-worth.
Rogers, Todd, and Avi Feller. "Discouraged by peer excellence: Exposure to exemplary peer performance causes quitting." Psychological science 27, no. 3 (2016): 365-374.