Shared suffering can mitigate aversively-generated aggression:

Abstract

Although considerable research indicates that aversive conditions (such as uncomfortably high temperatures) often evoke aggressive inclinations, there is also evidence that people are attracted to those who share their discomfort. In a 2 Â 2 design, female participants in either a hot or comfortable room worked with a nearby partner exposed to the same temperature but whose reactions to the temperature were either the same as, or different from, their feelings about the temperature. The women in a fifth condition had a partner situated in a room with a comfortable temperature . Consistent with Schachter's [1959] social-emotional comparison theory, the highest level of aggression was displayed by the participants in the hot room working with a partner whose emotional reactions were different from their own, whereas their counterparts, also exposed to the high temperature but whose partner's feelings were similar to their own, exhibited the least aggression over all the trials. Aggr. Behav. 32:80-87, 2006.