Victims want to change, not just punish, offenders

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S39/99/15Q02/index.xml?section=newsreleases

For immediate release: May 14, 2014
Media contact: Michael Hotchkiss
Princeton University

Victims want to change, not just punish, offenders
Revenge is a dish best served with a side of change.

A series of experiments conducted by researchers affiliated with Princeton University has found that punishment is only satisfying to victims if the offenders change their attitude as a result of the punishment.

"Revenge is only 'sweet' if the person reacts with a change in attitude, if the person understands that what they did was wrong. It is not the act itself that makes punishment satisfying," said Friederike Funk, a Princeton graduate student in psychology and one of the researchers.

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