Sweet Revenge Feels Less Bitter: Spontaneous Affective Reactions After Revenge Taking

Previous studies suggested that people feel better after revenge taking, while other studies showed that they feel worse. The interpretation of this research is however ambiguous due to its extensive reliance on self-report measures. The present research examined spontaneous affective responses after retaliatory punishments in a laboratory task using an indirect measure of affect (affect misattribution procedure). Experiment 1 showed positive reactions after noise punishments of a provocateur compared to a control person, but only in revenge-seeking participants. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and revealed that punishing either individual led to less positive responses than not punishing anyone. It is suggested that revenge taking is associated with brief pleasurable responses that can ameliorate negative affective consequences of retaliatory action. Revenge is sweet because it makes one feel better about one's punitive action.