Revenge tastes sweet, even if it is not directed against the person who harmed us: An Examination of Justice-Related Satisfaction after Displaced Revenge

Numerous ongoing conflicts in the world, such as terrorist attacks and retributive reactions to such attacks, illustrate that acts of revenge are often not directed against the actual offender, but rather against third persons who are not directly involved in the original offense. Such acts of 'displaced revenge' are the hallmark of large-scale intergroup conflicts (cf. Lickel, Miller, Stenstrom, Denson, & Schmader, 2006; Lickel, 2012). Previous research investigated under which circumstances acts of displaced revenge are more likely to occur (e.g., Gaertner, Iuzzini, & O’Mara, 2008; Newheiser, Sakaowa, & Dovidio, 2012; Stenstrom, Lickel, Denson, & Miller, 2008), but has not considered whether displaced revenge can be satisfying and achieve a subjective sense of justice. However, knowing when avengers are satisfied with revenge might not only be an interesting question for and in itself, but it may also contribute to a deeper psychological insight into the goals underlying vengeful actions. Building upon the notion that direct revenge aims at delivering a message (“don’t mess with me!”; e.g., Gollwitzer & Denzler, 2009; Gollwitzer, Meder, & Schmitt, 2011), it is argued that displaced revenge alike might be satisfying and achieve a sense of justice when it effectively delivers a message to the offender other members of his or her group. To address this question and explore the psychological dynamics underlying displaced revenge, this Dissertation includes five studies which are presented in two manuscripts. All studies explored the contextual conditions under which displaced revenge can lead to the experience of satisfaction and restored justice. Studies 1 to 3 (Manuscript #1) show that displaced revenge leads to more justice-related satisfaction (but not less feelings of regret) when the group to which the offender and the target belong is highly entitative. In addition, results of Study 3 demonstrate that avengers experienced the highest level of satisfaction when the offender’s group was perceived to be strongly interactive and, at the same time, similar in appearance. Having established the effect of entitativity on justice-related satisfaction in Studies 1 to 3, Studies 4 and 5 (Manuscript #2) aimed at investigating why displaced revenge against a member of a highly entitative (vs. low entitative) group is more satisfying. The goal of Study 4 was to examine whether displaced revenge primarily serves to give targets their just deserts or whether it potentially serves to deliver a message which has to be received by the original offender. Results show that displaced revenge is satisfying, when the offender’s group continued to exist in its original form, but not when the offender left the group or when the group dissolves. Study 5 shows that displaced revenge leads to the highest levels of satisfaction when both the original offender and the target of revenge understood why revenge was taken. Taken together, the results of the present Dissertation corroborate the notion that displaced revenge is a goal-directed behavior, which serves to deliver a message to the offender and the target of displaced revenge

The relationship between alexithymia and self-harm: a mixed methods investigation

Objective This thesis addresses the question of why people who self-harm score more highly on alexithymia, a trait characterised by difficulties identifying and describing feelings and an externally-orientated thinking style. With rates of self-harm increasing, understanding this complex phenomenon remains a research priority. Method A mixed-methods, convergent design was used. Following a systematic literature review and meta-analysis (Study 1), two separate online surveys of adults investigated the mediating role of, first, dispositional mindfulness (Study 2), and, second, emotion dysregulation (Study 3). An exploratory study investigated the functions of self-harm in the context of alexithymia (Study 4). Finally, eight interviews, exploring the experience of self-harm among young adults who reported difficulties identifying and describing feelings, were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Study 5). The results of the individual studies were integrated using a joint display and an analysis of convergent and divergent findings. Results The meta-analysis confirmed a significant, positive relationship between self-harm and alexithymia, with a medium effect size (g = 0.57, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.71). The mediation studies found evidence to support a model in which heighted perception of physical sensation contributes to a lack of emotional clarity, leading to facets of emotional dysregulation and engagement in self-harm. Analysis of the functions of self-harm revealed that, although affect regulation was the most commonly endorsed function across all participants, the use of self-harm to generate feeling was significantly associated with alexithymia. The qualitative study found that difficulty understanding the self and describing feelings prevented participants from conveying their subjective experience to others, increasing their isolation. Conclusions The results support a model in which self-harm is used by people with high alexithymia to regulate an emotional experience that is poorly understood and therefore difficult to accept without judgment. That experience is exacerbated by the difficulties in communicating to other people. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications for clinical practice and future research

Imagine the future world: How do we want to work tomorrow?:Abstract proceedings of the 16th EAWOP Congress 2013

The contributions summarized in this volume have been presented at the 16th Congress of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) in Münster, Germany, May 22-25th, 2013. The bi-annual EAWOP Congress is one of the largest international conferences of work and organizational psychologists worldwide, and the largest in Europe. For the current congress, more than 1.700 abstract were submitted that were subject to a double-blind review process. The theme of the EAWOP Congress 2013 “Imagine the future world: How do we want to work tomorrow?” particularly focused on new challenges that we experience in work organizations today and tomorrow, such as globalization and digitalization of economic processes, flexible work with remote partners, demographic changes, financial turbulences, and growing climatic problems. Providing new and innovative ideas on mastering these challenges, this congress was not only a stimulating event for the community of work and organizational psychologists, but also offers new ideas and concepts for decision makers in related disciplines, consultancies, and politics

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen

History of Psychology

Openly licensed anthology focused on the theme of the History of Psychology. Contains: The Mind and the Brain by Alfred Binet; Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners by Sigmund Freud; The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James; The Principles of Psychology, Volume 2 (of 2) by William James; Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology by C. G. Jung; Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay; The Psychology of Arithmetic by Edward L. Thorndike