Freudenfreude is the emotional experience of joy derived from witnessing another person's success—essentially the emotional opposite of 📝Schadenfreude, which involves pleasure in another's misfortune. The term denotes an empathetic resonance and has been studied in psychological research as a marker of social health. Psychologist Catherine Chambliss, writing in the World Journal of Psychiatry and Mental Health Research, linked deficiencies in freudenfreude to depression, especially in the context of relationships where individuals may feel threatened by others’ accomplishments.
To encourage freudenfreude, Chambliss’s research introduced two related practices: shoy, the act of showing interest in someone’s good news, and bragitude, the expression of 📝gratitude to those who respond positively to one’s own success. These concepts are part of an intervention designed to cultivate emotional generosity and relational resilience. Anecdotally, this ethos is echoed in Abby Wambach’s book Wolfpack, where she recounts the “Point and Run” practice—celebrating those who assist, not just those who score.