The Science of Spite

Few of us admit to being spiteful, but it does have a way of popping up when battling our way through traffic or waiting in a loooong line at the supermarket.

The minute we think someone else is going to get the jump on us, we’ll go out of our way to thwart them, even if it doesn’t really help our own situation. It’s that “If I can’t have it, then no one should” attitude. And we’re born with it. Research shows that young children will sacrifice a piece of candy for themselves if it looks like another kid is going to get more than them. But why do we do act this way? It doesn’t follow the science of natural selection. Or does it? Science reporter John Whitfield wrote about spite for New Scientist, and he joins us live from London to answer these questions.

John Whitfield's website

Whitfield's blog

(Photo courtesy of Jer Kunz via Flickr/Creative Commons)