Resentment as Social‑Contract Engine

Resentment functions as a cognitive policing tool: people detect when the IF/THEN rules of social contracts are violated, feel a negative motivational state, and seek allies or punishers to restore fairness. That mechanism explains many everyday complaints (elite admissions, divorce economics) and how they scale into political mobilization. — Framing resentment explicitly as an evolved enforcement mechanism clarifies why arguments about 'fairness' so readily translate into political movements and policy demands.