Getting even: an investigation of revenge in romantic relationships
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2005
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Abstract
Two studies examined the types of events that spark desires for revenge in romantic relationships, actual or plotted revenge behaviours, motives for seeking revenge, functional and dysfunctional consequences of getting even, and the reasons individuals sometimes forgo getting even with their romantic partners even though they desire revenge. In Study One, participants were interviewed regarding one of three types of experiences with revenge (i.e., functional, dysfunctional, wanted to seek revenge but did not). The results revealed that intimates take revenge in response to a variety of sparking events (e.g., violations of relationship rules, violations or threats to the social identity of the relationship). Also, intimates are motivated to seek revenge in order to achieve a number of goals (e.g., redress the avenger's feelings, restore justice concerns) and they identify both functional ( e.g., corrected, educated, and/or deterred the avengee) and dysfunctional ( e.g., revenge is not the right thing to do, negative consequences for the romantic relationship) consequences of their retaliatory actions. Finally, intimates sometimes desired revenge but choose to forgo revenge due to a number of reasons ( e.g., not right thing to do, goals would not be achieved). In Study Two, participants completed several individual difference measures ( e.g., forgiveness, vengefulness, belief in a just world, self-esteem) shown in previous literatures to relate to revenge behaviours and cognitions. A week later, they were assigned to one of two recall conditions (i.e., sought revenge, wanted to seek revenge but failed to do so) and completed a series of checklists derived from the results of Study One. Contrary to expectations, individual difference measures did not relate to participants' endorsements on the checklists. However, participants' overall responses on the checklists were generally consistent with the results of Study One. These studies contribute to the literature on revenge in romantic relationships by providing much needed descriptive data that complements the few existing studies on this phenomenon and provides an important foundation on which future investigations of revenge in romantic relationships can build upon.
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Bibliography: p. 163-174
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Citation
Deveau, V. (2005). Getting even: an investigation of revenge in romantic relationships (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/143