ABSTRACT
Revenge goals include the social motive of retaliating against a provocateur. This desire may be a natural response to perceived harm from others, but revenge is often an ineffective strategy for decreasing the provocateur’s aggression. Youth pursuing revenge goals may do worse in school due to poor regulatory abilities, which may underlie both revenge goals and aspects of academic performance. Teachers rate youth with revenge goals as more reactively aggressive, and these youth experience greater peer rejection and victimization. Additional research should consider how goal-driven processes relate with retaliatory behaviors and the role of moral judgments in revenge goals.
