Some Revenge Now or More Revenge Later? Applying an Intertemporal Framework to Retaliatory Aggression

West, Samuel J., Emily Lasko, Calvin Hall, Nayaab Khan, and David Chester. 2021. “Some Revenge Now or More Revenge Later? Applying an Intertemporal Framework to Retaliatory Aggression.” PsyArXiv. July 30. doi:10.31234/osf.io/wpfrs

Abstract: Retaliatory aggression is a rewarding behavior. Decisions about rewarding behaviors often involve an intertemporal bias, such that people prefer immediate rewards and discount delayed rewards. We integrated these literatures to test whether the delay discounting framework could be applied to retaliatory aggression. Across six studies (total N = 1,508), participants repeatedly chose between immediate-but-lesser or delayed-but-greater retaliation. As with other rewards (e.g., money), participants preferred immediate-but-lesser retaliation, discounting the value of delayed-but-greater revenge. Rates of aggression discounting were temporally stable and associated with greater aggressive behavior. Experimentally-induced angry rumination reduced discounting rates, motivating participants to wait longer to inflict greater harm. Participants with greater antagonistic traits (e.g., physical sadism), displayed stronger preferences for delayed-but greater vengeance. These findings suggest that some dispositionally aggressive individuals may delay retaliation in service of greater future revenge. Our results bolster the important role of reward in retaliatory aggression and suggest that an intertemporal framework is likely a fruitful area of investigation for antisocial behavior. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to contemporary theories of aggression and broader theories of antisocial behavior.