Is envy adaptive? In both public perception and scientific discourse, envy is typically regarded as a fundamentally destructive and maladaptive emotion. This perspective clashes with the notion that emotions are solutions to problems. Recent research has investigated whether envy might offer at least some benefits, frequently framing it as an adaptive response to threatened social status. This work has identified two distinct forms of envy: malicious envy, marked by hostility and the inclination to diminish others’ standing (‘leveling others down’), and benign envy, characterized by emulative motivation to elevate oneself (‘leveling oneself up’). Studies of dispositional and episodic envy link these forms to diverging attentional processes, distinct patterns of counterfactual thinking, and unique motivational reactions to those of higher status. In this talk, I critically evaluate whether this evidence substantiates claims of envy’s adaptive value. I aim to highlight limitations in current research and gaps in understanding envy’s functions across multiple levels of analysis. ON SITE & ZOOM MEETING tbc