So Unfair! How the Brain Responds to Injustice

(Credit: Shutterstock) In this cruel world, it's impossible to navigate from cradle to grave without experiencing the bitter fruits of injustice. But bitter fruits, it turns out, are better shared. According to findings from a study published Monday in the journal JNeurosci, punishing the wrongdoer seems to be more rewarding than helping out the victim. The participants, 53 males (a bit skewed, I'd say), all played a two-player game designed to analyze how people perceive and respond to a thief. Each player — the taker and the partner — started with 200 chips. Taker could steal up to 100 of the partner's chips, and the partner could retaliate by spending up to 100 chips to reduce the taker's stash by up to 300 chips. Study participants played either a partner or observer role, and they could decide to spend chips to help out the partner or punish the taker. Researchers ...