Equity and derogation of those against whom we have aggressed

Abstract

Casting the classic provocation‐retaliation paradigm in an equity framework, we hypothesized that persons realizing their retribution was excessive would derogate their victim, but only when they did not anticipate an opportunity to compensate her. After retaliating against a peer who had harshly evaluated their essays, 40 female undergraduates were informed that either a serious or mild misfortune had recently been suffered by their partner, and were led to believe that at the outset of the experiment they had carelessly overlooked this “mitigating” information. Half the participants anticipated a later opportunity to do a favor for the other woman. Regardless of the severity of the mitigating information the women were more negative in their evaluation of the partner when they did not anticipate a subsequent opportunity to do the partner a favor. The results are discussed in terms of equity restoration in reactions to having aggressed. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Vicarious Revenge and the Death of Osama bin Laden

“…However, these effects emerged only in cases where participants were neutral observers of the offense. In studies where participants were victims, the offender's fate did not diminish their retributive reactions (Craig et al, 1993;Johnson & Rule, 1986). Applied to the present context, imagining that bin Laden had been killed accidentally and unintentionally might be considered "deserved" and even satisfactory for non-Americans, but not for Americans.…”

What gives victims satisfaction when they seek revenge?

“…However, these effects emerged only in cases where participants were neutral observers of the offense. In studies where participants were victims, the offender's fate did not diminish their retributive reactions (Craig et al, 1993; Johnson & Rule, 1986). In two of the studies presented in this paper, participants either retaliated against an ostensible offender or learned that the offender has suffered from misfortune.…”