Revenge makes us feel good or bad

Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. It's like the feeling you get the next morning after eating a big slice of cake in the middle of the night, or the regret that hits you right after texting your ex. Good in theory, bad in practice; instant pleasure, long term frustration.

Here is a strange revenge that shares common feelings in return for all this. It's hard to forgive; revenge is like a pleasure. But if you take revenge, it's one thing; if you put up with it, it's another, why? The answer is a bit roundabout. What is this revenge; does it really make you feel good or regret it, should we take revenge or not?

When someone wrongs us, many emotions arise in us; anger, sadness, resentment, resentment and the desire to do the same or similar to them, to equalize, to do justice. Let him/her suffer, let him/her cry, let him/her experience what he/she made us experience. Isn't that right?

Don't worry, you are not a hateful person, we can all face feelings of revenge from time to time. But how does this revenge really make us feel; good or bad? Researchers trying to understand which types of emotions are more dominant when it comes to revenge have started to study how people feel about taking revenge, and they have come up with some very interesting results: Getting revenge can make you happy, but it can also make you miserable! Yes, you read that right. Let's take a look at what research has found in these completely opposite conclusions.

David Chester, associate professor of social psychology, says, "When you get revenge, you actually have an increase in negative emotions, but you also start to feel some positive emotions; you feel sad on the one hand and happy on the other." In other words, he points out, revenge involves two opposite emotions that are intertwined. On the other hand, he likens revenge to orgasm in terms of its instant gratification and hedonistic experience.

Research conducted by Chester and his colleagues, which examines both behavioral changes and brain activity after revenge, reveals that revenge has hedonic rewarding qualities. Let's explain what this hedonic reward is: Acting out of revenge triggers the brain's reward mechanism, increasing the release of dopamine and endogenous opioids; dopamine is related to feeling good when you achieve something, while endogenous opioids are related to wanting to do something. So in this case the brain is saying: I want to get this revenge and I love it, I'm happy to do it.

And does this feeling last long? No, it doesn't. In fact, according to research, that momentary pleasure, that feeling of well-being, lasts so short that it's not even worth getting revenge! Although the sudden release of dopamine, which is suppressed by revenge, brings happiness to its peak at that moment, soon, even within a few minutes, a sudden collapse in mood begins. And the sweetness of revenge is replaced by warm shame and guilt.

The result? The result, as we can imagine, is regret.

So, getting revenge on someone for something they've done doesn't lead to as long-lasting a sense of fulfillment as one might think. And yet, according to Dr. Chester, even though people have experienced both of these emotions, they are ready to take revenge again the next time.

It's like waking up on a weekend morning with a headache, nausea and dizziness, saying 'I'm not going to drink again' and then getting hangover again, he adds.

The bottom line is that it may be better to be forgiving and not carry this burden rather than revenge, which doesn't help anyone and only makes you feel good for a few minutes and then causes the negative emotions to come out more intensely.