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Revenge, even though it is not your fault

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2012

Rongjun Yu
Rongjun Yu*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China. rongjun.yu@gmail.comwww.rongjunyu.com
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Abstract

McCullough et al. argue that revenge has a future-oriented function, that is, to deter future harms by changing other individuals' incentives toward the self. Recent research has shown that people seek revenge even when harms are unintentional. This commentary reports these results and proposes that revenge may also serve to reduce the immediate psychological pain resulting from unfair treatment.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 40 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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