What do people get out of being sadistic?

I have always wondered what people would get out of being sadistic. I always thought that bringing others happiness might work better at making one happy ... but then as time passed I realized in some minor degree at least every human being is sadistic ... this comes from the inherent tendency of human beings to compete against one another ... survival of the fittest ... So seeing someone else not faring as well as you do would in turn boost your ego or make you think you are better than him at the moment and would give you happiness ...

But to what degree would one go to get happiness at another's expense? Well that is where actually a person get to be called sadist - someone who tends to create more emotional/physical or any other pain to another to gain happiness than majority of the other humans are the sadists ... at least that's how I understand it ... same as how a person who is too different from common people are often called as mad even if they are intelligent and just differ in opinion (again my theory) ...

Well I set about thinking about this because of a particular scenario I witnessed : A particular rift in a relationship between a boy and a girl (names not provided to maintain anonymity), resulted in a very interesting situation. The boy kept trying to contact the girl, but she refused to pick the calls. But the more interesting part was that she appeared quite happy each time he attempted to call her - and she did not pick up the call ... well he is getting hurt by her rejection, and she feels she rejected him instead of being rejected - that could be the source of happiness (again sadistic isn't it?) - again the cause of happiness is speculation - but makes sense to me ... :) ...

But then I did think, if you are given a choice to hurt someone or get hurt yourself, if you think a bit, wouldn't it be better for the other person to get hurt than you, provided you have the choice to make either choice? Again human mind is a complex thing ... so how this plays out depends on the said person's place in your life. If they mean a lot to you then you might not hurt the person and might in turn let yourself get hurt ...

It would be a good thing how ever if you would stop and think ... what if I am in that person's shoes? How badly would my decision affect that person?

Well still your decision is dependent on a lot of factors - and not always logical ...

I think everyone at some point of time would show a bit of sadistic streak at least, and even feel smug about it ... well obviously I have had my share of sadistic deeds which I have to say I wasn't in the least bit unhappy about - rather it was the opposite ... so I would say this wouldn't I? ;) ... But my deeds aren't sadistic by society's standards I have to say ... it was with knowledge that my actions would hurt someone and still it something I wanted to do or thought necessary that I should do ... and well I was pretty gleeful at the time too (oops ... sorry - that is wicked isn't it ... but I am not all that evil, I swear!!!) ...