Negative equality nostalgia

Negative Equality Nostalgia (or NEN), also known as "Same boat syndrome" is the positive feeling one gets when knowing a peer is in the same level of trouble they are.

As an example, suppose someone does not do their homework; however, a friend also does not do theirs. This helps to make the person in question feel better about not doing their work. This only seems to occur if the second person is relatively well known to the first. It is speculated that a sense of comradery not otherwise seen is established through the 'hard time'.

However, the sense of NEN is often exploited by those in competition with one another. It is a way of feeling advantaged over another person. For example, if someone does do their homework, but tells the other person he/she hasn't, the first person may feel that the other will not do their homework, and therefore feel superior to the other.