Such is the conclusion reached by scientists at University College London in what they say is the first neuroscientific evidence of schadenfreude.
Using brain-imaging techniques, they compared how men and women reacted when watching other people suffer pain.
If the sufferer was someone they liked, areas of the brain linked to empathy and pain were activated in both sexes.
Women had a similar response if they disliked the person experiencing the pain but men showed a surge in the reward areas of the brain.
'The women had a diminished empathic response,' said Dr Klaas Enoo Stephan, a co-author of the report. 'But it was still there, whereas in the men it was completely absent,' he added in an interview.
The scientists, who reported their findings in the journal Nature, said the research shows that empathic responses in men are shaped by the perceived fairness of others."
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1 comment:
Fantastic! Science is wonderful, it can discover things that common sense told most of us years ago!
Wow! Science catches up with the way we are made.
Congrats to those involved.
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