Vengeance
By: Naci H. Mocan.
Contributors: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- working paper 14131; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 14131.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: "This paper investigates the extent of vengeful feelings and their determinants using data on more than 89,000 individuals from 53 countries.  Country characteristics (such as per-capita income, average education of the country, presence of an armed conflict, the extent of the rule-of-law, uninterrupted democracy, individualism) as well as personal attributes of the individuals influence vengeful feelings.  The magnitude of vengeful feelings is greater for people in low-income countries, in countries with low levels of education, low levels of the rule-of-law, in collectivist countries and in countries that experienced an armed conflict in recent history.  Females, older people, working people, people who live in high-crime areas of their country and people who are at the bottom 50% of their country's income distribution are more vengeful.  The intensity of vengeful feelings dies off gradually over time.  The findings suggest that vengeful feelings of people are subdued as a country develops economically and becomes more stable politically and socially and that both country characteristics and personal attributes are important determinants of vengeance.  Poor people who live in higher-income societies that are ethno-linguistically homogeneous are as vengeful as rich people who live in low-income societies that are ethno-linguistically fragmented.  These results reinforce the idea that some puzzles about individual choice can best be explained by considering the interplay of personal and cultural factors"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Title from PDF file as viewed on 7/23/2008.

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