Research indicates that the meaner you are to someone, the more you’ll dislike them—even without real cause.

This reverse Ben Franklin effect may help explain how soldiers are able to kill enemies, why prison staff can become needlessly cruel to inmates, and generational feuds.

It happens when asking someone for a favor makes them like you more.

This is believed to work because our brains try to solve the dissonance between helping someone and not being interested in their well-being by liking them.