When Revenge Feels Like Justice: The Psychology of Emotional Hurt

Ever wondered why some individuals invest their time in seeking revenge? Why do they have to make sure that justice is served immediately? Human emotions are complex. Understanding and managing them is indeed a task. Human emotions lie on a spectrum. Imagine a straight line and consider emotions in the middle of the line. For this spectrum, there exist two kinds of people: one who gets extremely emotionally hurt and loses spirit to do anything, whereas on the other side of the spectrum, there are individuals who want to seek justice or revenge no matter what happens. 

Human emotions are vulnerable, meaning a human can experience the heights of joy and the depths of despair at the same time. To answer these questions, this article focuses on Emotions, unresolved emotions, and the dynamics of revenge. 

Understanding Emotions

The phenomenon of emotions is complex. Defining emotions is still controversial and a hot topic to discuss. Many researchers scientist in the field have made an attempt or are making an attempt to define emotions. In simple terms, emotions can be defined as “Emotions are inner determinants of non – instrumental behaviour and non-instrumental aspects of behaviour.” This definition makes an attempt to explain that emotions are the phenomenon which are occurring within. The reaction to it is known as emotional behaviour. Emotional behaviour does not mean being sad; emotional behaviour means eliciting emotions. 

Living beings are actually characterised as living beings because they elicit emotions and emotional responses. Life would have been mechanical if there had been no emotions. Emotions make life worth living. Imagine getting a top rank in class, and an individual is unable to express it through screams, greetings and with a lot of smiles(Frijda, 1986). Some emotions make an individual feel uncomfortable, and they are defined as a generalised tendency to experience negative feelings such as anger, hostility, grief, etc.

They can arise due to simple reasons such as: experiencing guilt because an individual couldn’t study much for their test, or experiencing grief because of a loss of a loved one. If these emotions are not acknowledged, they create problems in life. These emotions play a prominent role in developing emotions like hatred, jealousy and revenge. Revenge is both an emotion and an emotional behaviour(Science Direct,2001).

Understanding the dynamics of revenge

Revenge is defined as an “infliction of harm by a victim on the party judged responsible for a transgression”. Understanding this definition becomes important. Revenge is one of the most dangerous forms of aggression. The definition simply means that revenge is an act where someone deliberately makes someone suffer from something unpleasant to the individual who has broken moral codes(Nathanson,2008). Revenge has extremely catastrophic consequences. It can lead to criminal consequences, prosecution or even capital punishment. 

Read More: The Psychology Behind Revenge

Two theories explain why revenge could be satisfying

1. Comparative Suffering:  This theory explains that by simply seeing that an offender is suffering, it restores the emotional balance of the victims. They feel satisfied seeing a misfortune happen to their offender.

2. Understanding Hypothesis: On the other hand, this theory explains that an offender’s suffering is not enough on its own in order to achieve truly satisfactory revenge(Jaffer,2011).

Research has proven that revenge plays a role in restoring equity, status, and control.

Goals of Revenge

According to Katie McGaughey (2025), there are several goals of revenge. Revenge is not a narrow emotional response; rather, it is a broad emotional response. Revenge can be sought for criminal offences, property disputes, relationship disputes, professional matters, etc. The following goals are a set of general goals : 

1. Mood Repair

The first being described as Mood Repair, researchers have studied that individuals who have a negative affect end up alleviating their positive mood. The Avengers are already in a bad mood because of the injustice, hence whenever they see their offenders being punished, there is a surge of positive affect. According to De Querivain et al. (2004), it is also supported by neuroimaging studies that thinking about revenge activities activates the reward systems in the brain. 

2. Self Image and Ego Defence

The second goal being Self image and ego – defense. Researchers have noted that avengers seek revenge to restore their self-esteem and self-image. This shows the power and boosts the power of the Avenger. Directly linking to the ego-defence mechanism. To pose oneself as strong and superior after a certain humiliation or betrayal, the avengers end up seeking revenge. 

Read More: Exploring Id, Ego, and Superego in Personality

3. Justice

One of the essential and third goals of revenge is Justice. A research study was conducted where participants were asked to punish the offenders, and participants were given ways to punish the offenders. Participants choose the legal way to punish the offenders. This shows that justice is prominent. 

4. Communicating Morals

The last goal of revenge is communicating the morals to the offenders. Researchers concluded that avengers were more satisfied when they saw the offenders realise their mistake and understand why they were being punished. Though revenge can be of any type, these are some of the primary goals. Goals drive desire for revenge, and desire ends up creating intense emotions.

Perspectives on revenge

Biological foundation: A seminal study used PET scans and images to understand which part of the brain is activated. When individuals punish others, the Dorsal Striatum is activated in the brain. This area is important in reward seeking. This explains why revenge feels rewarding and how impulses push individuals to seek revenge (De Quervian,2024).

1. Evolutionary Foundation

According to this lens, revenge acts as an alarm system to deter others from harming us. It also emphasises that revenge tends to reclaim the lost status and prevent future victimisation (McCoullough,2013).

2. Plutchik’s wheel of emotions

In his groundbreaking research on explaining emotions, Robert Plutchik, in his work on The Wheel of Emotions, explains how complex emotions are. When we consider emotions in his wheel, he demonstrates the feelings/emotions in the sequence of least intensity to most intense. (Plutchik, 1980)

For Anger, the sequence is: Annoyance – Anger – Rage. The wheel of emotions also follows a colour scheme light shade for the least intense emotions and a dark colour scheme for the most intense emotions. The sequence of Anger together results in Aggressiveness. Revenge is the ultimate form of Rage(Plutchik.R,1980).

3. Emotional Regulation

According to Katie McGaughay(2025), regulating emotions is important as unresolved emotions are one of the predictors of revenge. Emotional regulation is the ability to change our emotional response according to the situation. Individuals who cannot upregulate or downregulate their emotions often struggle with intense emotions. Individuals who have dysregulated emotions cannot manage intense emotions, and when they are wronged by others, they fantasise about revenge.

Anger provokes revenge, as discussed in the wheel of emotions, because individuals with dysregulated emotions have low self-control and have narrow attention. Shame, humiliation and betrayal trigger revenge. Seeking Revenge tries to restore power, shame, self-image and self-esteem.   

Read More: The Relationship Between Anger and Self-Regulation: From Amygdala Hijack to Self-Control      

4. Emotional Suffering

Furthermore, theories also attempt to explain that revenge does not necessarily give satisfaction; rather, the Theory of Revenge Paradox explains that revenge tends to cause more emotional suffering because the victim has to ruminate on the offender, prolonging the emotional pain rather than resolving it(Carlsmith, K.M.,2008).

Interesting Facts about Revenge

• The feelings of revenge are universal. Almost 97% of individuals across the world experience this feeling, but not all of them act upon it( McGaughey et al.,2025)
• Almost 64 % to 97 % report having these thoughts, but only 19% of them act upon them. 
• Research and surveys into delinquency have reported that one – half of the interpersonal assaults had revenge as a driver(Kivivuori et al.,2016).  
• In 2022, cybercrimes in India were motivated by revenge(Elagina,2026). 
• Functional MRI (fMRI) has shown that revenge involves the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Consequences of Revenge

According to Feldman (2017), it is often said that cinema reflects society. Societal happenings influence the movies people produce. Considering cinema and daily soap operas on television, have glorified revenge to a greater extent. Often, the antagonist is portrayed as someone who cares too much about self-worth, image and esteem and in order to quench that, they end up taking revenge.

What is paradoxical is that they are given special hype during promotions, and they have special songs dedicated to their character in the movie. People normalise sexual abuse and acid attacks in the name of revenge. According to developmental psychologists, children don’t have an established sense of right and wrong; they believe that taking revenge is the only solution. Nobody shows or teaches people how to manage rejection properly.       

How to manage unresolved emotion?    

Unresolved emotions eventually start to create repetitive cycles in relationships, the workplace, and social relationships. Unresolved emotions start to act as triggers for every small issue. Gradually, unresolved emotions manifest in our body or bodily symptoms such as fatigue, irritation, dry eyes, insomnia, etc. It becomes important to address these emotions and to work on them. Here are some ways to manage unresolved emotions, which will also help in understanding intense emotions such as revenge. 

1. Meditation: Meditation helps individuals to downregulate, and it teaches individuals to respond to situations rather than react to them. Meditation makes an individual mindful of their actions. 
2.  Journaling: Journaling helps individuals to declutter their minds and organize thoughts. Journaling has proven to be one of the most effective methods to control emotions and regulate them. Journaling provides a clear picture of how an individual feels. 
3. Breathing practices: Simple relaxation techniques done on a daily basis have effective results in the long term.
4. Therapy and Counselling: This is best if there is the presence of major past trauma and an individual is unable to navigate. Adequate guidance really helps to manage emotions(Estelle,2025).   

Conclusion

Revenge means inflicting harm on someone who has deliberately caused harm. Human emotions are complex to understand and manage. Revenge most often has major consequences. Justice, Moral Communication, and mood repair are some of the goals of revenge. Unresolved emotions are one of the triggers behind revenge. Revenge as an act is dynamic yet complex.

Emotions add meaning to our lives, but if not managed well, they end up creating loss. Researchers have made attempts to study victim revenge, but revenge is broader than that, as it includes almost all aspects of life. In order to overcome the intense feelings of revenge, an individual must first address their unresolved emotions. The psychology of emotional hurt emerges from unresolved emotions, leading to the development of intense desires for revenge, leading to major consequences.

References +

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2. Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge University Press
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12. Kivivuori, J., Savolainen, J., & Aaltonen, M. (2016). The revenge motive in delinquency: Prevalence and predictors: Prevalence and predictors. Acta Sociologica, 59(1), 69-84.
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