Most people experience the desire for revenge. Cultural sources, from Greek tragedies to contemporary television shows, highlight humans’ fascination with revenge. Yet revenge is demonised and misunderstood. Revenge has been a force for good. Evolutionary psychologists argue that revenge evolved to promote cooperation in lawless, early human societies. The threat of revenge deterred people from violence and stealing. This enabled humans to cooperate, facilitating the growth of agriculture, towns, cities, and nation states. Evidence for the evolution of revenge can be found in twin studies and animal studies. Destigmatising revenge could improve violence prevention research and mental health support for victims of crime or injustice.
Katie grew up in Northern Ireland, before moving to England to complete a law degree at the University of Cambridge. Whilst studying law, she became interested in the psychological aspects of crime and violence. This led her to pursue a master’s degree in psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, where she developed a passion for research. She is currently undertaking a research PhD and her research focuses on crime victims’ experiences of revenge.
She is interested in how fantasies of revenge could impact crime victims’ mental health and in the risk factors that could lead to individuals taking revenge, for example experiencing certain emotions or having particular personality traits, such as narcissism.Supporting people who are struggling with their mental health is really important to her so in my spare time, she volunteers for the Samaritans. She also enjoys singing and hiking, and is currently learning to scuba dive. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
10 апр 2024
