The relative deprivation-gratification continuum and the attitudes of South Africans toward immigrants: A test of the V-curve hypothesis.

Abstract

It has long been established that there is a linear and positive relationship between relative deprivation and prejudice. However, a recent experiment suggests that the converse of relative deprivation, relative gratification, may also be associated with prejudice (S. Guimond & M. Dambrun, 2002). Specifically, the evidence suggests that the usual test for a linear relationship between relative deprivation-gratification and prejudice might conceal the existence of a bilinear relationship. This function, labeled the V-curve hypothesis, predicts that both relative deprivation and relative gratification are associated with higher levels of prejudice. This hypothesis was tested with a representative sample of South Africans (N=1,600). Results provide strong support for the V-curve hypothesis. Furthermore, strength of ethnic identification emerged as a partial mediator for the effect of relative gratification on prejudice.

Intergroup Perceptions and Attitudes toward Immigrants in a Culturally Plural Society

“…Pettigrew and Meertens (1995) reported a Cohen's d mean effect size of .29 for relative deprivation as a predictor of blatant racism in Europe with their studies of British attitudes toward West Indians and Asians, French attitudes toward North Africans and Asians, Dutch attitudes toward Surinamese and Turks, and German attitudes toward Turks. More recently, Dambrun, Taylor, McDonald, Crush, and Méot (2006) found that relative deprivation was linked to more negative attitudes toward immigrants in South Africa. Consequently, it is hypothesised that perceived relative deprivation will predict more negative attitudes toward Chinese immigrants.…”

Relative Deprivation and Social Identity in Times of Dramatic Social Change: The Case of Nurses1

“…Past studies have shown the relevance of considering both past (e.g., Zagefka & Brown, 2005) and future temporal points of comparison (e.g., Dambrun, Taylor, McDonald, Crush, & Méot, 2006). As the responses to the two types of comparison were highly correlated in the present study ( r = .71, p < .001), responses were pooled into one variable.…”

Predictors of Strength of In‐Group Identity in Northern Ireland: Impact of Past Sectarian Conflict, Relative Deprivation, and Church Attendance

“…For example, following the dismantlement of the Soviet Union, researchers in Russia found that those who considered social change to be rapid and negative reported greater relative deprivation, which was associated with poorer evaluations of the in-group (de la Sablonniere, Tougas, & Lortie-Lussier, 2009). The results can be interpreted in terms of either relative deprivation or relative gratification, both of which have been shown to produce an in-group bias (Guimond & Dambrun, 2002; Dambrun, Taylor, McDonald, Crush, & Meot, 2006). It is important to note that, as Guimond and Dambrun contend, the processes underlying relative deprivation and relative gratification may be distinct and differentially related to social attitudes.…”