Abstract
Revenge is common in our daily lives, and people feel good when engaging in revenge behavior. However, revenge behavior is a complex process and remains somewhat of a puzzle of human behavior. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that revenge behaviors are associated with activation of a neural network containing the anterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, inferior frontal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Recent brain stimulation research using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation has shown a causal relationship between brain regions and revenge behaviors, but the findings have been mixed. In the present study, we aimed to study whether stimulation in the DLPFC can change participants’ revenge behavior in conditions where participants’ wealth was taken away in different ways. We adapted the moonlighting game and designed a new paradigm. Our study revealed that revenge behavior increased following activation in the right DLPFC, suggesting that the right DLPFC plays an important role in overriding self-interest and retaliation. In addition, our results revealed that the right DLPFC is crucial in revenge behavior related to the motivation of invasion.
Highlights
Revenge mainly involves actions intended to harm someone after perceived harm to one’s well-being (Schumann and Ross, 2010; Elshout et al, 2015; Jackson et al, 2019)
Brüne found that most individuals responded in a tit-for-tat fashion in a scenario in which participants first play the part of the recipient in an ultimatum game (UG) and subsequently acted as a proposer in a dictator game (DG) played against opponents, as in the UG (Brüne et al, 2013)
The revenge behavior after receiving cathodal stimulation was lower than that after receiving sham stimulation, but the difference was not significant (FDR-adjusted p > 0.1). This finding indicated that anodal stimulation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) made participants more vengeful when their tokens were taken away
Summary
Revenge mainly involves actions intended to harm someone after perceived harm to one’s well-being (Schumann and Ross, 2010; Elshout et al, 2015; Jackson et al, 2019). Revenge behavior is a complex process that manifests in various patterns and remains somewhat of a puzzle of human behavior (Jackson et al, 2019). Due to the complex causes of retaliation, revenge behaviors have been researched in laboratory-based paradigms. Self-control studies have shown relationships between self-control and revenge behavior (Finkel and Campbell, 2001; Tangney et al, 2004; DeWall et al, 2010; Pronk et al, 2019). Liu found that participants with lower self-control exhibited more revenge behavior when they were treated unfairly than those with high self-control (Liu and Li, 2020)
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