Types and Revenge

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Edit: I might instead decide to pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers.

He is still one of my all-time favorite baseball players!

 

[niffer]

I have a thing for impulsively, physically lashing out at INFJs once they reach a point where my anger boils over.

As for seeking revenge..either I fantasize about it in my head if I have a lot of time to think about it (but never actually carry out my plans)..or I do it spur-of-the-moment once I get the chance, usually to be funny in front of people. If I get one of those spur-of-the-moment chances to get revenge sometimes I spend too much time deciding whether to take it or not, and the chance is over.

 

[Natrushka]

This is enlightening. Friends and I have talked about this over coffee and we thought it might be an INTJ thing - seems it's not.

 

[rivercrow]

There was an JPT article showing a connection for Machiavellian drives to a preference for Thinking over Feeling, and more true for younger Ts than for older Ts.

I think this is accurate from what I've observed.

 

[Kyrielle]

Sometimes I'd love to exact revenge, because I tend to think that it would level the playing field again. However, as much as I'll want to do it, I just can't bring myself to be angry and bitter long enough to care. There is always a point where I just sigh and forget about it and give whoever it is another chance to redeem themselves. (And I would much rather someone redeemed themselves so I wouldn't have to waste the time and energy it takes to hate them.) I also know I'd feel horrible about doing an act of revenge on someone...I mean for goodness sake, I can't even play a prank on someone without apologising in advance and warning them of said prank!

 

[rivercrow]

I also know I'd feel horrible about doing an act of revenge on someone...I mean for goodness sake, I can't even play a prank on someone without apologising in advance and warning them of said prank!

You poor thing!

I am so grateful I don't have that affliction!

 

[Economica]

The proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold" is credited to the 18th century novel les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons), written by the French official and army general Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (although it never actually appears in the original text).

This, btw, is a brilliant novel. It features deliciously satanic INTJ and ENTP protagonists and an endearing INFJ one. The movie adaptation with Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent too.

 

[KMCE]

I used to be hell-bent on revenge towards people who had "wronged" me. I'd plan, and sometimes carry out, detailed schemes that would "punish" the person involved. This pretty much culminated when I arranged to have a former boss thrown out of the army for wrongly implicating me in a fratricide. Since that incident however, I have been more live-and-let-live. Haven't had the urge for revenge of any type in almost 2 decades ... except for that one time my step-daughter forged a bunch of my checks.

I can second the revenge of passion tendencies in my ISFJ wife. She once threw out my entire computer system (which I retrieved from the trash bin) when she discovered I'd been chatting with somebody online.

Interesting. You have a change of heart after you serve that guy 'justice'.

I'm not particularly hell-bent for revenge, but I think sometimes it has to be done. You simply cannot let people mess with you and get away with it unscratched. They will come back to haunt you later.

 

[rivercrow]

Interesting. You have a change of heart after you serve that guy 'justice'.

I'm not particularly hell-bent for revenge, but I think sometimes it has to be done. You simply cannot let people mess with you and get away with it unscratched. They will come back to haunt you later.

Age mellows you.

 

[htb]

He is still one of my all-time favorite baseball players!

He and Gossage. What an era.

 

[LadyInWaiting]

I don't think much about revenge nor do I engage in revenge fantasies. If I'm going to do something vindictive, it's going to be in the moment or not at all. For example, during an argument, I might say something really personal and nasty if I feel like I've been attacked in an illegitimate way. So I'll say something really mean, and when I was younger maybe I'd try to destroy something that mattered to the other person. But even doing that much was difficult for me.

Revenge is an illogical response based upon personal values, so I think it has connections with Introverted Feeling (ISFP or INFP).

This does not ring true for me at all. And judging by this thread, it seems NJs and IJs are the most likely to engage in acts of revenge, or vengeance fantasies. Perhaps something to do with introverted perception being dominant. Not taking the world as it comes, but subjectively. I don't know.

It's rare for me to even hold grudges. If I can't get back at someone in that moment, then it's not long before I start to see how it was really my fault.

 

[The Ü™]

Yes, specifically xxTJ, because Introverted Feeling is either the third or fourth function and less developed, and more likely to be used in a negative way under stress.

 

[Economica]

I'm not particularly hell-bent for revenge, but I think sometimes it has to be done. You simply cannot let people mess with you and get away with it unscratched. They will come back to haunt you later.

I agree with this. IMO, the aspect of revenge that is rational punishment for bad behavior is being neglected in most of this thread.

 

[The Ü™]

The way I see it is that if you kill the person who angered you, you won't have to worry about him/her ever angering you again.

 

[rivercrow]

The way I see it is that if you kill the person who angered you, you won't have to worry about him/her ever angering you again.

 

[Natrushka]

I'm not particularly hell-bent for revenge, but I think sometimes it has to be done. You simply cannot let people mess with you and get away with it unscratched. They will come back to haunt you later.

I agree with this. IMO, the aspect of revenge that is rational punishment for bad behavior is being neglected in most of this thread.

Amen.





OK, So who's actually meted out a little Revenge?

Obviously from a previous post I have. More than once.

 

[rivercrow]

OK, So who's actually meted out a little Revenge?

Well, I have.


And that's all you get.

 

[Natrushka]

Well, I have.


And that's all you get.

Thank you for not disappointing me

 

[Usehername]

I'm a firm believer in punishing bad behavior instead of turning the other cheek. I do it for my own (long-term) sake and for the perpetrator's. I also do it because punishment alleviates my feelings of anger (i.e. for revenge).

However, the will to punish is just one factor that enters into my cost-benefit analysis when deciding how to act/react, and I restrain myself whenever retaliation would be overall counterproductive. I am tolerant of my boss's bad behavior, for instance. But whenever I ignore bad behavior, I have to go release the negative energy in a productive way so I don't end up passing it on to someone undeserving (such as the people I love).

The controlled and rational practice of punishment with calm certainty seems very TJ to me.

Incidentially, "turning the other cheek" is a cultural reference that goes unnoticed by those who haven't had it pointed it out to them. You use this phrase in error (like most).

The biblical reference refers to the interaction between a slave and his master. They were obviously seen as unequals.

When a slave had done something that the master thought earned punishment, the master would give him a backhand slap. (A punch was for an equal, you see.) Yet, by "turning the other cheek" you aren't oriented to be backhand slapped. The left hand was "unclean" and no one used it.

Which means:
a) you get punched, but treated as an equal
b) you don't get anything, b/c they don't want to treat you as an equal and they can't backhand you b/c you've "turned the other cheek".

The other references alongside this one are of the same smartass nature.

Turning the other cheek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[attila_the_hunny]

I think about revenge, but have no follow through. However, if I were pushed far enough and it was easy to carry out, might be inclined to seek it.