Payback without bookkeeping: The origins of revenge and retaliation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Current evolutionary models of revenge focus on its complex deterrent functions. Nevertheless, there are some retaliatory behaviors in nonhuman animals that do not appear to have a deterrent function and that are notably similar to revenge in their motivational structure. I propose a novel explanation for the origin of revenge motives that does not rely on deterrence, and I argue that revenge motives as understood on this model could easily be co-opted to serve subsequent functions of deterrence. This explanation appeals to a well-understood family of game-theoretic models known as the ‘war of attrition.’ One theoretical implication concerns the starting point for evolutionary psychology. Starting with an understanding of how human adaptations might have arisen from more ancient mechanisms and selection pressures provides helpful constraints and correctives.