Punishing a wrongdoer may be more rewarding to the brain than supporting a victim. That is one suggestion of new research which measured the brain activity of young men while they played a 'justice game.'

Study participants played a game in which two players — a ‘Taker’ and a ‘Partner’ — each start out with 200 chips. The Taker can steal up to 100 of the Partner’s chips, and then the Partner can retaliate by spending up to 100 chips to reduce the Taker’s stash by up to 300 chips. Participants played as either a Partner or an Observer, who could either punish the Taker or help the Partner by spending chips to increase the Partner’s stash.

The researchers found that participants were more willing to punish the Taker when they experienced injustice directly as a Partner as opposed to a third-party Observer.

Read the research report.

When you witness an injustice would you rather support the victim or punish the wrongdoer?