Vengeance Test

This test is inspired by the Vengeance Scale, a measure of attitudes toward revenge developed by psychologists Noreen Stuckless and Richard Goranson at York University and published in the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality in 1992. The original scale remains one of the most widely used research measures of dispositional vengefulness — the stable tendency to endorse, desire, and enact revenge after a perceived wrong. This test uses its own items, modeled on the same construct, and is not identical to the original instrument.

Vengefulness is not the same as anger. Anger is an emotion that rises and passes; vengefulness is an attitude about what should be done when you have been hurt. People high in vengefulness see revenge as legitimate, satisfying, and sometimes required — a matter of honor or self-respect. People low in vengefulness lean toward mercy, forgiveness, and moving on, and may view revenge as morally wrong or beneath them. Research has found that higher vengefulness tends to go together with more rumination about offenses, lower forgiveness, and lower life satisfaction, while lower scores accompany more forgiving and agreeable dispositions.

The test presents 24 statements — some endorsing revenge, some endorsing forgiveness — answered on a seven-point agreement scale, and reports results across three domains: the drive to pay wrongs back, the belief that revenge is morally right, and the tendency to hold on to grudges. Scores are expressed as percentages running from thoroughly merciful toward thoroughly vengeful. In research with comparable measures, the typical adult lands around 33%, with most respondents falling between roughly 18% and 48% — estimated comparison values carried over from published research samples, not standardized norms for this exact test.

A high score is not a diagnosis and a low score is not a virtue certificate: attitudes toward revenge are shaped by culture, personal history, and the seriousness of the wrongs a person has actually endured. This test is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not psychological advice, and it is not affiliated with the original authors or their institutions. If feelings of resentment or revenge are interfering with your life, consider speaking with a qualified mental health professional.

References

• Stuckless, N., & Goranson, R. (1992). The Vengeance Scale: Development of a measure of attitudes toward revenge. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 7(1), 25-42.
• McCullough, M. E., Bellah, C. G., Kilpatrick, S. D., & Johnson, J. L. (2001). Vengefulness: Relationships with forgiveness, rumination, well-being, and the Big Five. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(5), 601-610.