Rudeness may be rewarded—as a response to rudeness

If you don't have anything nice to say, perhaps it's OK to say it anyway—if responding to someone who has treated you or your team rudely, new Cornell research suggests. Civil responses to disrespectful behavior remain the best option. But in a variety of contexts—from hockey fights to the workplace—experiments showed that people view an uncivil action or comment more leniently when performed as retaliation rather than instigation. Retaliating in kind to incivility may be appreciated as much as neutral responses.