People carry out four 'little acts of revenge' every week

The typical adult carries out four small acts of revenge a week, a poll has revealed.

Secretly putting sugar in the tea of someone on a diet is one of the top ways to get revenge, a study showed.

As many as 75 per cent of people admit to carrying out small, malicious acts on people who have annoyed them, with one in twenty confessing to adding sugar to a dieter’s cup of tea, telling a colleague the ending of a gripping tv series and leaving the petrol tank empty for your other half.

Being talked down to, learning that someone has spoken behind your back and being irritated by someone were the main reasons adults seek revenge. A further 13 per cent said they have to seek vengeance when someone chats up their other half and 16 per cent insist on getting their own back if they happen to be ignored by someone.

People admit they are more likely to have carried out an act of revenge on a work colleague 19 per cent than an ex-partner 18 per cent, however one in twenty have even sought revenge on their current partner’s ex.

Despite 39 per cent of adults feeling a twinge of guilt after getting their own back, a quarter claim they feel great after retaliating.

However, while 14 per cent say their acts of revenge are just “for a laugh” or for banter, a sinister 20 per cent said they carry out little acts of revenge so that people learn not to cross them.

One in twenty said they do it just to make themselves feel better and the same number said they do it to put someone in their place.

A spokesman from Lionsgate Films, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of the new Rambo film, Rambo: Last Blood, said: “The research has unveiled that revenge is a dish best served in the most un-Rambo like fashion – with most participants suggesting the greatest form of revenge is in the form of putting sugar in the tea of someone on a diet, or not bothering to tell someone they have food in their teeth.”

Of those polled, 44 per cent said carrying out little acts of revenge was harmless, but 56 per cent felt it could be seen as “a bit mean”.

The data also showed that more than four in ten adults have said they have a ‘frenemy’ in their social circle, who they tolerate but secretly hate.

Other acts of revenge carried out by disgruntled people included telling on a colleague to the boss after they made a mistake, deliberately uploading an unflattering photo of on social media or congratulating someone on their pregnancy - when they knew they were not expecting.

Others used up the last of the hot water to give their partner has a cold shower, or gave someone caffeinated coffee when they asked for decaf.