This essay proposes that Royzman and Rozin’s (2006) article on the differential role of prior emotional attachment in sympathy and sympathetic joy is a hidden gem for Communication scholars. Royzman and Rozin’s studies demonstrate that individuals feel sympathy for negative events that happen to both close others and strangers, but symhedonia (sympathetic joy, or happiness for the good fortune of others) depends more strongly on a prior positive relationship with the person. These findings have implications for understanding empathy and identification with narrative characters, and are relevant to studies of emotional flow and narrative structure.