MikeyC
Well-known member
You beat me to it, but yes, schadenfreude is the term.
I think that we like to feel we're on top, since it's still a competitive world out there, no matter how anxious you may feel. So hearing other people's bad news can be pleasurable in the sense that they have been bought down a peg or two.
I think it all comes back to a range of personality traits and current feelings as to how you react to bad news, though.