Effects of Retaliation Latency and Provocation Level on Judged Blameworthiness for Retaliatory Aggression

Subjects observed an interaction in which one person retaliated with a harmful act after a long or short latency period following another person's severe or mild insult. The retaliator was blamed more when his act was delayed rather than immediate, and when the prior insult was mild rather than severe. These results appeared to be mediated by perceptions of the degree to which the retaliator premeditated his action.