Vengeance, which is defined as the infliction of punishment or injury in return for perceived wrong, is often the reason for some of the most violent acts committed in our society. Vengeful acts are personal and often occur after the individual has had time to reflect on the acts committed against them. Generally, vengeful acts are more intense than the acts that provoked them. This study estimates vengeance propensity with the Vengeance Scale (Stuckless and Goranson, 1992). The scale consists of20 self-report questions that assess attitudes toward vengeance. Existing research suggests a few isolated personality factors that may relate to vengeance propensity, but it does not appear that previous research has explored the interaction of multiple personality predictors on the Vengeance Scale through the use of regression modeling. In the current study, numerous personality factors were assessed using the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) in 28 university students (68% female). Linear regression with backward modeling was used to examine which of 17 PAI scales (raw scores) accounted for the most variance in the Vengeance Scale raw score. Results indicated that a combination of seven scales accounted for the most variance in the Vengeance Scale (adjusted R2 = .53; F(7,20) = 5 .30, p = .002). The seven scales that remained in this final model, along with standardized coefficients, were: Anxiety (-.99), Anxiety Related Disorders (.77), Mania (.49), Antisocial (.38), Nonsupport (-.46), Dominance (-.33), and Warmth (-.74). Further confirmatory research will be helpful in clarifying this derived model.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.