For example, in the divide and choose method, a spiteful player would have to make a trade-off between depriving his opponent of cake, and getting more himself.
Within the field of sociobiology, spite is used to describe those social behaviors that have a negative impact on both the actor and recipient(s).
For example, the simple "tit for tat" strategy has been shown to be effective in round-robin tournaments of iterated prisoner's dilemma.
Losing productive workers is a setback to both the business and the employees but this can serve as an example to others and thus maximise employer power.
Polyembryonic wasps, including C. floridanum, exhibit spite through instances of precocious larval development.