Get the Message

Abstract

Results from three studies demonstrate that victims' justice-related satisfaction with punishment is influenced by the kind of feedback they receive from offenders after punishment. In contrast to previous studies that found a discrepancy between anticipated and experienced satisfaction from punishment (Carlsmith, Wilson, & Gilbert, 2008), participants were able to accurately predict their satisfaction when made aware of the presence or absence of offender feedback acknowledging the victim's intent to punish. Results also indicate that victims were most satisfied when offender feedback not only acknowledged the victim's intent to punish but also indicated a positive moral change in the offender's attitude toward wrongdoing. These findings indicate that punishment per se is neither satisfying nor dissatisfying but that it is crucial to take its communicative functions and its effects on the offender into account. Implications for psychological and philosophical theories on punishment motives as well as implications for justice procedures are discussed.

What makes displaced revenge taste sweet: Retributing displaced responsibility or sending a message to the original perpetrator?

“…When we talk about "satisfaction," we mean a psychological state in which the victim/avenger experiences (a) a sense of justice achieved (i.e., that everybody got what they deserved), (b) psychological closure (i.e., that s/he can now put up with what had happened and "move on"), and (c) positive affect (e.g., satisfaction, relief, pleasure). Previous research on the hedonic benefits of taking revenge has shown that these three facets are strongly correlated with each other (e.g., Funk et al, 2014;Gollwitzer et al, 2011;Sjöström & Gollwitzer, 2015), which is why they are usually combined into a single measure of "justicerelated satisfaction." It should be noted that previous research had used different sets of items in different studies, with more comprehensive scales yielding higher internal consistencies (e.g., 12 items in Funk et al, 2014; Studies 1 and 2b) than shorter scales (as in Gollwitzer et al, 2011or Funk et al, 2014Study 2a), which sometimes yielded internal consistencies (i.e., Cronbach's alphas) around .60 (e.g., Sjöström & Gollwitzer, 2015; Study 3).…”

“…This finding is consistent with the message hypothesis. In order to alleviate recurring problems of low revenge rates in previous laboratory studies on revenge (see Funk et al, 2014;Gollwitzer et al, 2011), we used a false feedback procedure on participants' vengeful desires. Although participants did not openly express skepticism toward the validity of this procedure, participants' agreement with the result of the bogus punishment test was relatively low.…”

“…Thus, there may be other or additional factors that can explain the relation between entitativity perceptions and the likelihood as well as the "sweetness" of taking displaced revenge. that they would change their behavior in the future (Funk, McGeer, & Gollwitzer, 2014;Gollwitzer & Denzler, 2009;Gollwitzer, Meder, & Schmitt, 2011). This pattern of results suggests that the underlying goal of revenge is to send a message to the perpetrator: "Don't mess with me."…”

“…It would be interesting to investigate how the potential threat of counter-revenge impacts avengers' satisfaction with displaced revenge. Recent research highlights that the revenge message entails a prompt for the perpetrator to change attitudes and behavior toward the victim (Funk et al, 2014; see also Boon, Deveau, & Alibhai, 2009). In turn, this change may also be supposed to minimize the actual chance of counter-revenge by each single member of the perpetrator group.…”

When transgressors intend to cause harm: The empowering effects of revenge and forgiveness on victim well‐being

“…There are several reasons why revenge should be empowering. Revenge can teach offenders a lesson (Funk, McGeer, & Gollwitzer, 2014), and it can communicate that one will not put up with bad behaviour (e.g., Gollwitzer & Denzler, 2009;Gollwitzer, Meder, & Schmitt, 2011). Revenge can indicate strength and has therefore been associated with bolstered self-esteem following a transgression (Zdaniuk & Bobocel, 2012).…”