Revenge and Conflict: Social and Cognitive Aspects - Conflict and Multimodal Communication: Social Research and Machine Intelligence - page 84

even more relevant in sanctions, where the costs imposed on the wrongdoer are
paired with a message, aimed at signaling that that conduct is not approved of.
The tension between the individual desire for revenge and social prescription
against it is perfectly explained by an American journalist, Susan Jacoby, who wrote
a topic on revenge as a form of wild justice, in which she explains the role of
institutions for regulating revenge by saying:
The fact that civilized men and women adhere to a social contract requiring them to settle
disputes in courtrooms instead of the corral before sundown does not mean that the impulse
toward revenge has been eradicated—any more than the institution of marriage implies the
disappearance of sexual impulses directed toward anyone other than one's lawful spouse.
(Jacoby 1983 , p. 12)

4.5.1 Open Issues

Before concluding, we would like to point out some open issues in the study of
revenge that deserve further investigation.
Revenge as a social stigma . An alternative solution for societies that want to
restrain revenge is to put a stigma on it. Taking revenge is a shameful action, it is
considered socially unacceptable so that being considered as a vindictive individual
is undesirable. How effective is this solution? Under what circumstances is such a
solution effective?
The paradox of revenge . Revenge can be paradoxical because it implies a conflict
between equity (getting things even) and justice. The wrong suffered is against
equity, but taking revenge goes against the principle of not damaging others.
However, if the initial aggression is perceived as inadmissible, the desire for revenge
becomes legitimate. Is there a paradox between feeling entitled to avenge oneself
and the normative belief against it?
Emotions . Studies of emotions in revenge refer to anger, resentment, and hate felt
by the avenger, but less is known about other possible emotions. For example, does
the avenger feel guilty or ashamed for his or her behavior? On the other side, what
are the emotions of the target, i.e., the initial aggressor, and how does the avenger
take them into account when deciding whether to act or not?
Revenge as a form of exaptation. An evolutionary explanation of the success
of revenge could consider that revenge evolved as a tool for “doves,” i.e., coop-
erators, who were exploited by “hawks,” considered as free riders which exploits
cooperators at no cost to themselves. In an evolutionary perspective, doves are
supposedly not able to attack others so revenge can be seen as an exaptation. A hawk
producing a social damage to a dove does not expect a counteraggression, and we
also hypothesize that aggressiveness is a trait that doves do not possess, but under
the selective pressure of revenge, they were able to evolve an urge for revenge and
then to repay the initial aggression with the same coin. Supported by a feeling of
entitlement and a need for equity, the dove turned into a hawk, and the positive
outcome, gaining respect and compensation, reinforced the feeling of being right