By: Benedict Carey, New York Times
Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Professor Brad Bushman's research in the New York Times

July 27, 2004

From the article...

Revenge may be frowned upon, but the urge to extract a pound of flesh, researchers find, is primed in the genes.

...The expression itself is all pleasure. In one recent experiment, psychologists demonstrated that students who were ridiculed were far less likely to avenge themselves on an offensive peer if they had been given a bogus "mood-freezing pill," which they were told blocked the experience of pleasure.

"We've shown many times that expressing anger often escalates and leads to more aggression," said Dr. Brad Bushman, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who conducted the study, "but people express it for the same reason they eat chocolate."

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You can read the entire article on the New York Times website.