The Joy of Justified Schadenfreude
You know that feeling you get when bad guys in movies get what's coming to them? Guys, I KNOW you do. A study last year shows that -- in males -- these feelings come because the reward centers of the brain are stimulated.
There is no word for this feeling in the English language. The phrase "Roman holiday" comes close -- which is generally used to indicate a pleasure derived from watching someone else's suffering (hearkening back to the gladiatorial spectacles in the Colosseum.) Or the German word schadenfreude (which roughly means "taking joy in the misery of others"). But these words still don't capture that it's a feeling of joy from seeing someone suffer that we think DESERVES it. A JUSTIFIED schadenfreude.
Last year, an English brain-imaging study showed that the reward areas in the brains of male volunteers -- the same areas that delight in food, drugs or sex -- lit up when bad or unfair competitors were given jolts of pain.
The researchers, led by Tania Singer of University College London, used real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the brain activity of 16 men and 16 women as they engaged in a game. A few of the participants had been secretly guided to play unfairly, while the others stuck to the rules. It was no surprise that the cheaters were disliked by the other participants.
But then, the participants' brain activity was monitored as their former game-playing opponents had to endure mild-to-intense electric shocks:
All of this shows that, for men, the brain's reward system is activated when bad guys are punished.
This is not a stand-alone study either. A similar brain-imaging study found that revenge activates neurological centers linked to other strong urges (like for cocaine abuse or sexual attraction.) These are STRONG urges.
Obviously, as with everything else that our brain is wired for, this fulfills some evolutionary survival function. Perhaps the "traditional" role of women in maintaining the cohesion of the social unit needs complete empathy. Perhaps the "mother" role needs a more constant empathy. But for a group to survive, someone had to be able to filter out people that would not "play by the rules" -- requiring men to develop this hard-wired response. It seems likely that it was more than just social conditioning (simply reflecting the man's "traditional" role in needing to dole out justice for the group) because this is a hard-wired pattern in the brain.
And I would be interested in seeing a study that tested a woman's brain when their child had been harmed/cheated in some way. I'm thinking that might blow out their brain imaging equipment.
Anyway, I found this interesting and thought it might help everyone understand why some might seem more empathetic while others want revenge. Understanding that it's a hard-wired brain issue might help. We can't help it. That's how we roll.
However, there is also the opposite of schadenfreude. It's a Buddhist concept called mudita. It's sympathetic joy or "joy at another person's good fortune."
But, can't I feel mudita for Rambo when he cuts the throat of the bad guy?
Hey, don't judge me.
I'm a guy.
Mostly.
There is no word for this feeling in the English language. The phrase "Roman holiday" comes close -- which is generally used to indicate a pleasure derived from watching someone else's suffering (hearkening back to the gladiatorial spectacles in the Colosseum.) Or the German word schadenfreude (which roughly means "taking joy in the misery of others"). But these words still don't capture that it's a feeling of joy from seeing someone suffer that we think DESERVES it. A JUSTIFIED schadenfreude.
Last year, an English brain-imaging study showed that the reward areas in the brains of male volunteers -- the same areas that delight in food, drugs or sex -- lit up when bad or unfair competitors were given jolts of pain.
The researchers, led by Tania Singer of University College London, used real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the brain activity of 16 men and 16 women as they engaged in a game. A few of the participants had been secretly guided to play unfairly, while the others stuck to the rules. It was no surprise that the cheaters were disliked by the other participants.
But then, the participants' brain activity was monitored as their former game-playing opponents had to endure mild-to-intense electric shocks:
- When someone that had been playing fairly was shocked, the empathy centers of the brain lit up in both men and women.
- However, when the cheaters got zapped -- although the empathy centers in women's brains reacted in the same way -- the empathy response in the male's brain was SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. In addition, the male's brain showed an increased activation in the reward centers of the brain correlated with an expressed desire for revenge. (For those that are interested, these reward areas included more primitive brain regions such as the striatal system and the nucleaus accumbens.)
All of this shows that, for men, the brain's reward system is activated when bad guys are punished.
This is not a stand-alone study either. A similar brain-imaging study found that revenge activates neurological centers linked to other strong urges (like for cocaine abuse or sexual attraction.) These are STRONG urges.
Obviously, as with everything else that our brain is wired for, this fulfills some evolutionary survival function. Perhaps the "traditional" role of women in maintaining the cohesion of the social unit needs complete empathy. Perhaps the "mother" role needs a more constant empathy. But for a group to survive, someone had to be able to filter out people that would not "play by the rules" -- requiring men to develop this hard-wired response. It seems likely that it was more than just social conditioning (simply reflecting the man's "traditional" role in needing to dole out justice for the group) because this is a hard-wired pattern in the brain.
And I would be interested in seeing a study that tested a woman's brain when their child had been harmed/cheated in some way. I'm thinking that might blow out their brain imaging equipment.
Anyway, I found this interesting and thought it might help everyone understand why some might seem more empathetic while others want revenge. Understanding that it's a hard-wired brain issue might help. We can't help it. That's how we roll.
However, there is also the opposite of schadenfreude. It's a Buddhist concept called mudita. It's sympathetic joy or "joy at another person's good fortune."
But, can't I feel mudita for Rambo when he cuts the throat of the bad guy?
Hey, don't judge me.
I'm a guy.
Mostly.
