It is sadly too common for people to feel vindicated and/or thrilled anytime they manage to "win" like this, akin to the so-called beggar mentality, where any material gain to oneself regardless of actual need is considered a positive.

These kinds of people like to think of themselves as smart when in reality they are just selfish.

Any action that cannot sustainably be extended to everyone else in the world should be considered suspect as to whether it's actually good.