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“Righteous” Anger and Revenge in the Workplace: The Fantasies, the Feuds, the Forgiveness

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International Handbook of Anger

Abstract

Revenge is part of the social fabric of organizational life. For many, revenge is typically viewed as an irrational, if not evil, response, to events in the workplace. However, there is an emerging scholarly view of revenge that departs from that conventional wisdom. This view is what we refer to as “revenge as justice.” In this chapter, we review a growing body of research across academic disciplines that finds the motivation for revenge is, more often than not, grounded in a perception that one has been the victim of undeserved harm and feelings of injustice. Drawing on empirical findings, we argue that revenge is not motivated by mere anger grounded in frustration, but a righteous anger, an emotional response to correct and prevent injustice. As such, revenge is central to the process of justice in organizations. While righteous anger is core variable in our analysis, we illustrate how cognitive mistakes and biases can shape the emotion of righteous anger and the act of revenge. Finally, we argue that there is a rationality and morality to revenge, which must be understood through emotional lens of righteous anger.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We owe a debt of gratitude to Rod Kramer for his contribution in stimulating and enriching our analysis of revenge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Washington State University at Vancouver, Vancouver, WA, USA

    Thomas M. Tripp

  2. Georgetown University, Georgetown, WA, USA

    Robert J. Bies

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  1. Thomas M. Tripp
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Correspondence to Thomas M. Tripp .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Pediatrics, Div. Pediatric Clinical Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Delaware St. SE., 420, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Michael Potegal

  2. FB Psychologie, Universität Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, Marburg, 35032, Germany

    Gerhard Stemmler

  3. University of South Florida, 7th Ave. South 140, St. Petersburg, 33701, Florida, USA

    Charles Spielberger

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Tripp, T.M., Bies, R.J. (2010). “Righteous” Anger and Revenge in the Workplace: The Fantasies, the Feuds, the Forgiveness. In: Potegal, M., Stemmler, G., Spielberger, C. (eds) International Handbook of Anger. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89676-2_24

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