Behavioural economics games repeatedly show that a significant minority will make others poorer even when they gain nothing themselves.
The German word 'schadenfreude' is now familiar worldwide: taking joy in someone else's misfortune. But experimental games show many people's spite runs much deeper than that — they genuinely want to see the world burn.
Revenge makes sense; destruction does not
In vendetta games, on average six in ten players retaliate against someone who stole their winnings, wiping out about half that person's wealth. There is at least a logic of an eye for an eye.
Destruction games are different: you can take money from another player who never finds out, you gain nothing, and your reputation is untouched. Still, a third of players do it, removing about 30 percent on average.
No benefit at all. Just watching someone else get poorer. That is pure destructive spite.
Why it matters
These experiments untangle fairness: people will pay money to punish unfairness, and also apparently to create unfairness themselves. If a third of people act destructively under anonymity in a lab, the anonymity of the internet only widens that stage.
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