When somebody betrays you, resist the urge to retaliate: Getting revenge probably won’t make you feel better in the end, new research from Washington University suggests.
That’s because revenge seems to spark a whole host of contradictory emotions—and not all of them good.
In the study, the participants read a story in which someone sought revenge. Afterwards, they reported feeling positive emotions like satisfied, pleased, and calm. That’s likely because people believe that an important goal has been accomplished—someone had been punished for doing something wrong, .
But the story also triggered some negative feelings just as strongly as it did positive ones. People often don’t anticipate having negative reactions to getting revenge. They think it will lead strictly to satisfaction, but it doesn’t.
These negative feelings likely arise because the act of revenge serves as a reminder of the harm the person caused in the first place which makes you feel lousy all over again.
The problem is, that awesome feeling fades quickly, leaving you potentially feeling even worse than before.
So fight the urge to punch your ex-buddy in the face for steeling your girlfriend. Both may have been not worth it, Move on.
No comments:
Post a Comment