Relative Deprivation Scale
The Relative Deprivation Scale measures the subjective sense that one's own group (fraternal/group relative deprivation) or oneself (egoistic/individual relative deprivation) is unjustly worse off than a relevant comparison standard, accompanied by feelings of resentment. Building on Runciman (1966) and synthesized by Smith and colleagues (2012), it captures the three-component process, cognitive comparison, appraisal of injustice, and affective resentment, that links inequality to political action.
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Sources
- Smith, H. J., Pettigrew, T. F., Pippin, G. M., & Bialosiewicz, S. (2012). Relative deprivation: A theoretical and meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(3), 203-232. DOI: 10.1177/1088868311430825 ↗
- Runciman, W. G. (1966). Relative deprivation and social justice: A study of attitudes to social inequality in twentieth-century England. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN: 9780710045867
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Group and Individual Relative Deprivation Scale. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/political-psychology/relative-deprivation-scale
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