In addition to the perceived source of injustice the target of revenge affects the type and degree of retaliatory behavior in which an actor will engage. In general wronged actors seem to use revenge to restore their feelings of justice not to perpetuate the cycle of injustice .
Thus the target of sabotage is most often the source of the perceived injustice such that retaliatory action is seldom taken against individuals when the roots of the injustice are perceived to be structural. This reluctance is partially in the interests of self-preservation low-status actors are less like to take revenge on higher-status actors than are high-status actors on low-status actors althougt the tendency to take revenge decreases with the victim s absolute status .Similarly,revenge is judged less harshly when its consequences are symmetric with the instigating injustice, whereas judgments are harsher when the method of revenge is similar to that by which the initial injustice was enacted. Because revenge is often visible and subject to third-party evaluation, victims focus on aesthetic principles in deciding when and how to retaliate.