Is it normal to hate people

We also induced hate using vignettes that showed target persons betraying the protagonist, such as going on dates or having affairs with people of the opposite-sex. Sixty volunteers, recruited from different colleges, participated in the experiment.

One participant had misunderstood the instructions and was thus excluded from the analyses. None of the participants reported any previous diagnoses of psychiatric or neurological illnesses. Each participant had provided written informed consent prior to participating in the experiment.

They were also given small tokens of appreciation for their participation. The vignettes used in the present experimental paradigm were adapted from a previous study that investigated the neural correlates of envy and schadenfreude Takahashi et al. The vignettes were modified to fit the present romantic love context, according to the previous definitions of love Hatfield and Sprecher, ; Schafer and Keith, The people in the vignettes included one protagonist and three targets i.

Participants were asked to study and understand the vignettes thoroughly and to imagine themselves as the protagonist in the vignettes. Target A was described as a person of equal level of excellence and high similarity to the protagonist, target B as equal level of excellence and low similarity to the protagonist, and target C as low level of excellence and low similarity to the protagonist target C.

See Supplementary Table S1 for details. The PLS is suitable for individuals who are and are not in a relationship, and for individuals who have never been in a romantic relationship Hatfield and Sprecher, ; Aron et al.

The reliability and validity of this scale have been established in previous studies Hatfield and Sprecher, ; Fehr, ; Hendrick and Hendrick, ; Fehr and Russell, The experiment consisted of two parts. We induced feelings of love toward the targets in the participants the protagonists in Part 1 Figure 1 , and feelings of hate toward the targets in Part 2 Figure 2.

Part 1 consisted of three phases: studying the materials, rating on the computer, and completing the PLS. This figure presents a schematic depiction of the stimuli and rating task design of Part 1 love.

First, a fixation cross hair was presented for ms followed by the experimental stimuli Lover A, Lover B, and Lover C that were displayed for ms or until response.

The top line in each stimuli-containing rectangle indicated a target person, the middle line indicated the domain of comparison excellence and similarity , and the bottom line indicated the specific traits in these two domains.

Part 2 consisted of two phases: rating on the computer and completing the PLS. This figure presents a schematic depiction of the stimuli and rating task design of Part 2 hate. Each trait was followed by a subsequent negative event, which was presented for ms or until response. The top line indicated a target person, and the bottom line indicated a negative event. A ms inter-stimulus interval was interleaved between each trait and negative event.

First, participants were asked to read a story and imagine that they were the protagonist see Supplementary Material. Each vignette involved the protagonist and three targets. Participants were asked to recall the information relating to each target through free recall. Participants were then asked to imagine that they were in a romantic relationship with the target. We used E-Prime 2. After the participants studied the materials, they completed the rating task on the computer and then completed the PLS in both Part 1 and Part 2.

Participants gave one love score per item per target person in Part 1 and one hate score per negative event per target person in Part 2, as well as two PLS scores before and after the negative events. In Part 2 of the experiment, the background characteristics of A, B, and C were unchanged; however, we created vignettes in which the targets betrayed the protagonist, for example by having an affair with someone of the opposite sex see the negative events in Supplementary Table S1.

Upon completion of Part 2, participants completed the PLS again to assess their feelings of love toward the three targets. We used several analyses to test our hypotheses. The scores from love ratings, hate ratings, and the PLS items were averaged within subjects prior to the analyses. Simple effect tests were performed when the interaction effect was significant. Tests of simple main effects were performed when an interaction effect was statistically significant.

Further analyses of the simple main effects showed that the degree of love toward target A 5. Further analyses of the simple main effects showed that the degree of passionate love toward target A Further analyses of the simple main effects showed that the degree of hate toward target A 5. Further analyses of the simple main effects showed that the PLS score for target A This study used an experimental paradigm to study the relationship between romantic love and hate.

The current study provided support for a link between the two affects and insights into the influence of similarity in romantic relationships. We found that people have different emotional reactions toward different target persons in the context of romantic love and hate.

The relationship between romantic love and hate was revealed to be more complex than expected. First, our results showed that feelings of love were influenced by similarity. That is, individuals, who were experimentally induced to experience feelings of love, felt stronger love toward someone of the opposite sex who was similar to them, thus, supporting our first hypothesis. Previous studies have examined whether similarity or complementarity played a more vital role in mutual attraction Berscheid and Reis, and concluded that the former was more important.

This view has also been supported by research looking at mate preferences Luo and Klohnen, and quality of marital relationships Hudson et al. Previous studies had mostly recruited couples or partners who were already in a relationship, and there is little direct evidence on whether the similarity of the two individuals had a crucial role in the development of a romantic relationship. A recent study Conroy-Beam et al. To some extent, they considered the equivalence in social status between both partners to be an important factor relating to relationship satisfaction.

In our study, however, when the participants were presented with two potential partners equal to them in excellence, participants perceived greater love for the one who was more similar to themselves. Relatedly, similarity also played an important role in mate selection. Our findings complemented the findings of other research in this area. Skip Navigation. Jennifer Liu. Chade-Meng Tan , a former mindfulness pioneer at Google and the author of "Search Inside Yourself," teaches this brilliant and highly effective "kindness-mindful" exercise: Sit for a few minutes with eyes open or closed.

Wish happiness for yourself and allow that intention to assimilate. Choose someone for whom it's easy to send kindness. Perhaps it's a loved one or good friend. Wish this person happiness. Notice any body sensations that arise as you do. Imagine how they might feel receiving it.

Choose a neutral person, someone you don't know well. Now wish them happiness. This heightened arousal of our fearful instincts causes us to dread future interactions with people we dislike.

In turn, this conditions us into even further dislike of that person, which just validates our negative feelings. In this way, our distaste for another person becomes like a snake eating its tail: we dislike them because they make us feel bad, and we feel bad because we dislike them.

So, whether through unhealthy self-soothing to cope with the feeling or long-term sympathetic nervous system activation, chronically feeling hatred toward others could adversely affect your health. Turner suggests some strategies that can be helpful if you feel like you hate everyone:. Frequently experiencing anger, frustration, or discomfort can make you feel like you hate everyone.

These emotions can take a toll on your mental and physical health, and make life a lot less enjoyable for you. Practicing empathy can help you change your mindset and make things more pleasant for you. Struggling with stress? Our guide offers expert advice on how to better manage stress levels. Get it FREE when you sign up for our newsletter. Your Privacy Rights.

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