There are few personality traits less attractive than spitefulness. It's petty, it's mean and it indicates a lack of maturity. However, it might actually turn out to be a good thing, in a weird, twisted kind of way. Scientists are beginning to study the often ignored quality of spite. In a survey containing questions such as "Would you be willing to take a punch if it meant someone you did not like would receive two punches?" seemed to indicate that spite is an integral part of the human psyche. Okay, so everybody is spiteful, humans are bad, we get it. However, there are some who think that there may be more at play. There are those who think that spitefulness is actually a sort of natural progression of a strong sense of fair play and it's even thought that they could be a crucial part of society. Spiteful people not only seek retribution for perceived slights against themselves, but they're also more likely to punish those who they think are not "playing by the rules". A fair society might actually need these people to police it and encourage fair play by everybody else. So, if you sometimes find yourself cutting off your nose to spite your face, you could be doing vital work for the community. See? You're not so bad after all. Want to write for WhatCulture Science? Click here to find out how you could get paid to write about what you love.Hey, you. Yeah, you. You want some more science? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for your next fix.
