Working Paper: NBER ID: w14131
Authors: Naci H. Mocan
Abstract: This paper investigates the extent of vengeful feelings and their determinants using data on more than 89,000 individuals from 53 countries. Country characteristics (such as per-capita income, average education of the country, presence of an armed conflict, the extent of the rule-of-law, uninterrupted democracy, individualism) as well as personal attributes of the individuals influence vengeful feelings. The magnitude of vengeful feelings is greater for people in low-income countries, in countries with low levels of education, low levels of the rule-of-law, in collectivist countries and in countries that experienced an armed conflict in recent history. Females, older people, working people, people who live in high-crime areas of their country and people who are at the bottom 50% of their country's income distribution are more vengeful. The intensity of vengeful feelings dies off gradually over time. The findings suggest that vengeful feelings of people are subdued as a country develops economically and becomes more stable politically and socially and that both country characteristics and personal attributes are important determinants of vengeance. Poor people who live in higher-income societies that are ethno-linguistically homogeneous are as vengeful as rich people who live in low-income societies that are ethno-linguistically fragmented. These results reinforce the idea that some puzzles about individual choice can best be explained by considering the interplay of personal and cultural factors.
Keywords: vengeful feelings; determinants of vengeance; victimization; cultural factors; socio-economic factors
JEL Codes: H56; I0; K4; K42; O1; P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Victimization (H84) | Vengeful feelings (D74) |
| Victimization (recent) (H84) | Desire for harsher punishment (K42) |
| Time since victimization (C41) | Vengeful feelings (D74) |
| Personal attributes + Cultural factors (Z10) | Vengeful feelings (D74) |
| Socio-economic context (P36) | Vengeful feelings (D74) |