Are revenge fantasies actually good for us? | Katie McGaughey | TEDxQueensUniversityBelfast

I want you to raise your hand if you've ever wanted to get back at someone, someone who hurt you, someone who hurt you, or someone who upset you, even if it was in a really minor way. Thank you all, so most of us on this. Room and probably most of those watching at home have wanted

revenge

at one point or another. Revenge is something many of us can relate to. Most of us have thought about it and probably have some pretty solid ideas about what we think of Revenge. I'm currently doing a PhD on the psychology of

revenge

and when I started my PhD I had some pretty fixed ideas in my head about revenge.

I saw revenge purely as something purely evil, it was evil, it was immoral, it was animalistic, it caused harm. It led to death and destruction and there was a very

good

reason why I thought the damage of Revenge is very real. However, the more I have learned about the psychology of Revenge, the more I have come to appreciate that it is so much more. complex than simply something evil, immoral or animalistic carried out only by the worst people in society. I mean, on the one hand, we've already established that most of us in this room have wanted revenge, wanting revenge is common, it's normal for us to be too.

Fascinated by stories of revenge, humans have written so many stories about revenge dating back at least to the ancient Greeks and Shakespeare later captured the imagination of people in 16th century England with vivid works about revenge and this fascination with revenge stories. revenge stories have not disappeared. from blockbuster movies like Gladiator or TV shows like Game of Thrones and I'm sure everyone watching could find thousands more examples of Revenge stories in their favorite movies and TV shows, so our movies and TV shows All the shows point to our fascination with revenge, but why are we so fascinated by revenge and why do we all think about it so much?

Evolutionary psychologists, including Michael McCullock, have argued that the modern drive for revenge first evolved thousands of years ago and this will come as a surprise to most of you, but they argue that our desire for revenge first evolved to promote cooperation between people; In other words, revenge evolved because it was useful to society, it served a purpose, it was a

good

thing. retaliation right now now the idea that Revenge evolved to promote cooperation may seem strange, revenge and cooperation seem like polar opposites, well I want you to think about a time when modern humans that look like us first evolved time, if you want, you can close. open your eyes and imagine yourself there, imagine living in a cave, you spend your days looking for food and hunting animals, and survival is a constant challenge and not only because of predators like big cats, but they constantly lurk around you, this is a society that is Lawless where theft and violence from other humans are constant threats.

You can see how in a society like this, if you developed a reputation for getting revenge, others would be less likely to harm you because they would fear your retaliation, and in this case, how a single instance of Revenge could prevent significant future violence, for example. What Revenge prevented theft and violence in early human societies in the absence of modern legal systems by preventing violence. Revenge allowed humans to work together to cooperate and trust each other, this meant that humans could build social networks and exchange resources, they could farm and live together in settled communities and in this way Revenge contributed to the emergence of villages, towns, cities, nation-states, so the world as we know it could look very different without Revenge now that we have established that many of us in this room have wanted revenge at one time or another and it seems that this is because our ancestors evolved to want revenge because it was beneficial to society it served a purpose it was a good thing it was retaliation with reason and science Studies also offer evidence that we may have evolved to want revenge, for example, a study of 2008 by the late eminent geneticist Lynon E showed that revenge could be built into our biology for the identical twins in the study. 40% of the difference in their ability to take revenge was determined by their genetics, in other words, almost a third of the twins' likelihood of wanting revenge was built into their biology.

Can you believe it? Behaviors that look a lot like revenge have also been observed in the animal kingdom and this is another indicator that revenge could be built into our biology, scientists have witnessed lions tracking and attacking jackals that tried to steal their food and According to a story published in the Indian Telegraph, two monkeys had to be captured after they killed 250 dogs, supposedly to avenge the death of a baby monkey that had been killed by a dog years earlier, so the lions and Monkeys have surprisingly exhibited behaviors that look a lot like revenge and this suggests that revenge may have evolved in humans and other animals because it had a purpose, because it was a good thing.

It was retaliation right now. Revenge may also have been passed down for thousands of years through our culture and our attitudes towards revenge are shaped by our religions, our laws, our histories and because of this, the very nature of revenge can have changed over the years. from something that once existed to deter harm and prevent violence to something that today is a response to injustice, to feeling mistreated or morally wronged, regardless of whether or not this will continue to deter harm in the future, does this mean that revenge was a good? something that prevented violence in the distant past, but is now almost a purely evil thing, but it's not that simple.

Revenge can still serve some useful purposes today, for example, right now I am studying revenge

fantasies

in crime victims and in a crime victim who I will refer to as David's house was robbed, this left David feeling unsafe in his own home, he felt completely helpless and helpless, unable to protect his family, as David imagining taking revenge in the days after the crime made him feel safer. he feels powerful and like he is in control of his life again so that we don't have to take revenge with all the devastating consequences that can entail in order to experience the benefits and this way revenge could still serve a useful purpose today.

However, I must warn that while feelings of revenge may be beneficial to us in the short term, if those feelings in David were to last a long time and become obsessive, then they could be detrimental to his mental health, now like David, many of we have experienced revenge. desire and this is probably because revenge was once beneficial to society and could still have some benefits today. Feelings of revenge are normal and there is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact the evolution of revenge could have even led to society as we know it. Without Revenge, we may not be here in this room right now, so as a Revenge researcher, I consider researching and talking about Revenge to be vitally important, this is because understanding the causes of Revenge could help us. to intervene and prevent violence and understand Revenge

fantasies

. could better help us improve support for the mental health of crime victims, who often suffer as a result of crime.

Now, after this talk, I invite you to reflect on your own revenge experiences or revenge fantasies and to consider taking the time to read or even participate. on some of the vital and fascinating psychological research out there on Revenge, thank you