Study: Men Enjoy Seeing Bad People Suffer

My Way News (AP) ^ | Jan 18, 1:04 PM | MALCOLM RITTER

[Flifuss]

NEW YORK (AP) - Bill Clinton said he felt others' pain. But a new brain-scanning study suggests that when guys see a cheater get a mild electric shock, they don't feel his pain much at all. In fact, they rather enjoy it.

In contrast, women's brains showed they do empathize with the cheater's pain and don't get a kick out it.

[Flifuss]

I always wondered about Bill Clinton, maybe this explains it.

[Mr. Jeeves]

It explains why more men vote Republican and more women vote Democrat.

And it also explains why women don't like the Three Stooges. ;)

[Tijeras_Slim]

She's a MAN baby!

[LizardQueen]

Does this mean I'm a guy?

LQ

[MadCharity]

Oh, I get a kick out of Clinton's pain...trust me!!!

[Little Ray]

So it is not a problem with me... I just thought I was a sociopath.

They should try it with people behaving obviously foolishly or stupidly and see if anybody empathizes with the unfortunate consequences.

[Gondring]

The headline could have been written "Women Empathize with Cheaters Who Get Punished" Interesting if it's put that way. I look forward to a broader study of this (no pun intended), but the results do seem intuitively correct. Females, as primarily caregivers, empathize with those who are injured, while males tend to be those who maintain justice.

[Lexington Green]

SCHADENFREUDE - the German word for that good feeling you get when the bad guy gets his

[Gondring]

ping

[Skooz]

Sweeping generalities.

I dislike seeing anyone suffer, regardless of how much they have earned it.

[ConservativeMind]

It would appear a large majority of women do not understand the purpose of justice meted out via physical pain.

However, I would imagine women who have been assaulted are among those who believe physical pain is a reasonable form of retribution.

Perhaps too many women have been isolated from ever having to feel pain from someone "bad".

This disconnect is odd but as a man, I have grown to understand that this is something we just have to put up with from many women. I won't be found with such a woman, though.

[ConservativeMind]

Unfortunately, that term applies to sadistic glee from either a good or a bad person receiving misfortune:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+SCHADENFREUDE&btnG=Google+Search

[Mr. Mojo]

It's all about the Schadenfreude.

[AntiGuv]

During the brain scans, each volunteer watched as the hands of a "fair" player and a cheater received a mild electrical shock. When it came to the fair-player, both men's and women's brains showed activation in pain-related areas, indicating that they empathized with that player's pain.

I'd be quite interested to know whether the activation with regard to the "fair" player was equivalent between men and women, or whether women were more empathetic with that player as well. I guess I'll have to check out the article!

[Gordongekko909]

I know plenty of female types who enjoy watching people get what's coming to them. Hell haveth no fury, etc. etc.

[AntiGuv]

It's worth noting that there's other research which indicates that boys are considerably more rules-oriented than girls. For girls, 'just playing the game' is often satisfactory regardless. For boys, following the rules is at least as important.

Whether this may be extrapolated to men and women (as opposed to boys & girls) is another question altogether, but does seem to have some bearing on this study here. In short, I doubt that one can draw a connection between this study and, say, men or women's responses to criminal behavior and penal justice.

[b4its2late]

The more I see clinton and his ilk suffer, the happier I am.

[Choose Ye This Day]

I guess women shouldn't serve on juries.

[goldstategop]

That's why I adore "24's" Jack Bauer. None of that metrosexual wimpiness. When it comes to bad guys, blow 'em away. Its the "Make My Day" attitude that's so 80s. Yeah, I smile when I see evil people get their just desserts. So sue me.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")