In two studies, victims differed from perpetrators as to whether they viewed a transgression as motivated by a desire for revenge. When participants wrote about autobiographical episodes in which they hurt others, they were somewhat likely to report that they were motivated by revenge; when the same participants wrote about episodes in which others hurt them, they were less likely to report that the perpetrators were motivated by revenge. This asymmetry could act as a barrier to reconciliation. This asymmetry may also facilitate a cycle of revenge in that those who view themselves as the targets of unprovoked aggression (as opposed to vengeance) may be especially likely to feel that they have a score to settle.

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Do people harm others with the broader altruistic goal of helping them? Across four studies, we empirically examined whether people believe in such prosocial aggression and whether they would enact it when given the opportunity. In Study 1 (N = 493), participants reported considerable belief in the existence of prosocial aggression, which was simultaneously associated with greater antisocial traits and greater altruism. We further observed a self-serving bias, in which participants indicated that their aggression was relatively more prosocially-motivated. In Studies 2 and 3 (combined N = 426), participants were often prosocially-aggressive, inflicting more harm when their aggression could help (versus only hurt) the target. In Study 4 (N = 285), such prosocial aggression was directed preferentially towards agreeable (versus antagonistic) targets. Our findings highlight the need to better understand how harm can arise from a desire to help and to revise theory to accommodate this behavioral phenotype.