In the election of the village head, both at the time of nomination, the fierce competition is not only felt by the candidates but the community as supporters also participate in the competition. It is pointed out that not a few people who use a bad track record of prospective opponents who aim to be a consideration in choosing prospective candidates, ranging from corruption scandals to verbal mistakes and blunder behavior. In general, humans rarely differ on how the expression of natural emotions when facing misfortune that befalls other people or groups, and vice versa. While the expression of emotion schadenfreude, is when looking at the luck of others from the opposite perspective, thus giving rise to the expression of emotion "happy for the suffering of others"
This study aims to find out the trigger factors of Schadenfreude in supporters of prospective village heads in the selection of Tambaksari village heads. This research uses qualitative methods. Data collection methods are interviews and documentation. Data retrieval is done through semi-structured interviews of 3 primary informants and 3 secondary informants. Credibility uses source triangulation. Data analysis uses miles and huberman interactive model data analysis.
The finding of this study is that the trigger factors of Schadenfreude in the supporters of prospective village heads in the selection of Tambaksari village heads consist of two categories, namely the primary Schadenfreude factor (a factor that always appears in each informant) consisting of: Self-improvement and feasibility and secondary Schadenfreude factor (a factor that only appears in one informant) consisting of: Jealous.