This study investigated reported goals involved in, and emotional outcomes resulting from, the process of enacting revenge activities against interpersonal relationship partners. Participants (N = 152) responded to questionnaires in which they described activities used to express revenge against a relational partner, the importance of several goals relevant to their retaliatory expressions, and the types of emotional outcomes they experienced upon reflecting on their activities. Results indicate that reported revenge activities are distinguished by goals reflecting an overarching desire to dominate targets. Although respondents reported experiencing anger, fearful anxiety, positivity, and remorse after enacting revenge, remorse was particularly strong following the initiation of new relationships, defaming the target’s reputation, and removing the target’s personal resources.
Arrindell, W. A. , Pickersgill, M. J. , Merckelbach, H. , Ardon, M. A. , & Cornet, F. C. (1991). Phobic dimensions: III. Factor analytic approaches to the study of common phobic fears: An updated review of findings obtained with adult subjects . Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 13, 73-130 .
2.
Bagozzi, R. P. , Baumgartner, H. , & Pieters, R. (1998). Goal-directed emotions . Cognition and Emotion, 12, 1-12 .
3.
Baron, R. A. , & Neuman, J. H. (1996). Workplace violence and workplace aggression: Evidence and their relative frequency and potential causes . Aggressive Behavior, 22, 161-173 .
4.
Barr-Zisowitz, C. (2000). ‘Sadness’: Is there such a thing? In M. L. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 607-622). New York: Guilford .
5.
Baumeister, R. F. (1999). Evil: Inside human violence and cruelty. New York: Henry Holt & Company .
6.
Baumeister, R. F. , Stillwell, A. M. , & Heatherton, T. F. (1995). Personal narratives about guilt: Role in action control and interpersonal relationships . Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 173-198 .
7.
Berger, C. R. (2002). Goals and knowledge structures in social interaction. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 181-212). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications .
8.
Björkqvist, K. , Osterman, K. , & Lagerspetz, K. M. J. (1994). Sex differences in covert aggression among adults . Aggressive Behavior, 20, 27-33 .
9.
Bradfield, M. , & Aquino, K. (1999). The effects of blame attributions and offender likableness on forgiveness and revenge in the workplace . Journal of Management, 25, 607-631 .
10.
Bretier, H. C. , Gollub, R. L. , Weisskoff, R. M. , Kennedy, D. N. , Makris, N. , Berke, J. D. , et al. (1997). Acute effects of cocaine on human brain activity and emotion . Neuron, 19, 591-611 .
11.
Burgoon, J. K. , & Hale, J. L. (1988). Nonverbal expectancy violations: Model elaboration and application to immediacy behaviors . Communication Monographs, 55, 58-79 .
12.
de Quervain, D. J. F. , Fischbacher, U. , Tryer, V. , Schellhammer, M. , Schnyder, U. , Buck, A. , & Fehr, E. (2004). The neural basis of altruistic punishment . Science, 305, 1254-1258 .
13.
Dillard, J. P. , Solomon, D. H. , & Samp, J. A. (1996). Framing social reality: The relevance of relational judgements . Communication Research, 23, 703-723 .
14.
Duck, S. (1988). Relating to others. Chicago, IL: Dorsey .
15.
Estrada-Hollenbeck, M. , & Heatherton, T. F. (1998). Avoiding and alleviating guilt through prosocial behavior. In J. Bybee (Ed.), Guilt and children (pp. 215-231). San Diego, CA: Academic Press .
16.
Fehr, E. , & Gachter, S. (2002). Altruistic punishment in humans . Nature, 415(6868), 137-140 .
17.
Frijda, N. H. (1994). The lex talionis: On vengeance. In S. H. M. van Goozen , N. E. Van de Poll , & J. A. Sergeant (Eds.), Emotions: Essays on emotion theory (pp. 263-289). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
18.
Horney, K. (1948). The value of vindictiveness . American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 8, 3-12 .
19.
Lewis, M. (2000). Self-conscious emotions: Embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 623-636). New York: Guilford .
20.
McCullough, M. E. , Bellah, C. G. , Kilpatrick, S. D. , & Johnson, J. L. (2001). Vengefulness: Relationships with forgiveness, rumination, well-being, and the big five . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 601-610 .
21.
Metts, S. (1994). Relational transgressions. In W. R. Cupach & B. H. Spitzberg (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication (pp. 217-239). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
22.
Mongeau, P. A. , Hale, J. L. , & Alles, M. (1994). An experimental investigation of accounts and attributions following sexual infidelity . Communication Monographs, 61, 326-344 .
23.
Nowlis, V. , & Green, R. (1957). The experimental analysis of mood. Technical Report, Office of Naval Research : Contract No. Nonr-668(12).
24.
Ohbuchi, K. , & Tedeschi, J. T. (1997). Multiple goals and tactical behaviors in social conflicts . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27(24), 2177-2199 .
25.
Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. New York: W. W. Norton and Co.
26.
Stein, N. L. , & Levine, L. (1990). Making sense out of emotion: The representation and use of goal structured knowledge. In N. L. Stein , B. Leventhal , & T. Trabasso (Eds.), Psychological and biological approaches to emotion (pp. 45-73). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
27.
Stein, N. L. , & Trabasso, T. (1992). The organization of emotional experience: Creating links among emotion, thinking, and intentional action . Cognition and Emotion, 6, 225-244 .
28.
Stein, E. A. , Pankiewicz, J. , Harsch, H. H.et al. (1998). Nicotine induced limbic cortical activation in the human brain: A functional MRI study . American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 1009-1015 .
29.
Walster, E. , Walster, G. W. , & Berscheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon .
