- Relative deprivation is the lack of resources (e.g. money, rights, social equality) necessary to maintain the quality of life considered typical within a given socioeconomic group.
- Relative deprivation often contributes to the rise of social change movements, such as the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
What is an example of relative deprivation psychology?
An example of relative deprivation psychology is when someone receives an iPhone for Christmas. Initially, they are pleased with their gift, until they learn their friend received a new car for Christmas. Now, in comparison, the person with the phone feels deprived.
What is relative social deprivation?
Relative deprivation is a subjective dissatisfaction that troubles many people. This dissatisfaction is caused by the comparison between one person’s situation and another’s situation. People exposed to relative social deprivation feel that they deserve to have or receive the same as others.
What are some criticisms of the relative deprivation theory?
Critics of the Relative Deprivation Theory indicate that the theory does not explain why some people, who do not have the rights or resources, do not participate in social movements to attain those rights or resources. For example, not all African Americans participated in the Civil Rights Movement.
What is an example of fraternalistic relative deprivation?
Another example of fraternalistic relative deprivation is the envy that teenagers feel towards the wealthy characters who are portrayed in movies and on television as being "middle class" or "normal" despite wearing expensive clothes, driving expensive cars, and living in mansions.
What is some examples of relative deprivation?
For example, when you can only afford a compact economy car but your co-worker, while getting the same salary as you, drives a fancy luxury sedan, you may feel relatively deprived.
What is relative deprivation in sociology Example?
Egoistic relative deprivation can be seen in the example of a worker who believes he should have been promoted faster and may lead that person to take actions intended to improve his position within the group; those actions are, however, unlikely to affect many people.
What is an example of absolute deprivation?
Absolute deprivation is often defined as one's material standard of living up to some set level, for example a subsistence level, and as one's material standard of living independent of that of others [3].
What is relative deprivation in psychology?
In social movement: Psychological factors. The concept of relative deprivation has been used to explain the fact that persons who could be much worse off than they are but still feel deprived in comparison with even more fortunate groups often play a prominent part in social movements.
Which of these best describes relative deprivation?
2. Which of these best describes relative deprivation? Not having something that is considered a necessity of life.
What is relative deprivation quizlet?
Define: Relative Deprivation. -it's a person's relative status that determines their sense of satisfaction, NOT the objective situation. -focus is on disadvantaged groups.
What is the major cause of relative deprivation?
Relative deprivation could be caused by economic or other social inequalities among various social groups. It is believed that group members who were earlier dispersed may find common ground in a cause that leads them to ignore their individual interests and unite under a single cause.
Why is relative deprivation important?
Relative deprivation is also a gauge of inequality, an important indicator of equitable growth at the individual level. Relative deprivation captures the fact that in an unequal society, people at the bottom feel worse across many dimensions than people at the top.
How is poverty defined according to relative deprivation?
How does relative deprivation measure poverty? By comparing the poor to more affluent members of society. Which of the following is a serious flaw in the way that the federal government defines poverty? It doesn't take into account regional differences in the cost of living.
What is relative deprivation does this cause aggressive behavior?
According to the theory of relative deprivation (Smith et al., 2012), the experience of being worse off than others leads to anger and resentment. These hostile feelings then evoke aggressive action.
What does relative deprivation theory argue?
Relative deprivation refers to inequality: the idea that people are deprived (materially or in other ways) compared with others in society. Left realists suggest that this, alongside marginalisation and subcultures, is a significant cause of crime.
Who used the term relative deprivation?
Socialist Walter Garry Runciman defined fraternalistic relative deprivation as the perceived discrepancy between the position of the group one belongs to (also known as their ingroup) and the position the group member thinks the group ought to have.
What is the major cause of relative deprivation?
Relative deprivation could be caused by economic or other social inequalities among various social groups. It is believed that group members who were earlier dispersed may find common ground in a cause that leads them to ignore their individual interests and unite under a single cause.
How is relative deprivation related to crime?
Violent crimes (homicide, assault, robbery) were consistently associated with relative deprivation (income inequality) and indicators of low social capital. Among property crimes, burglary was also associated with deprivation and low social capital.
What does deprivation mean in sociology?
Deprivation is the consequence of a lack of income and other resources, which cumulatively can be seen as living in poverty. The relative deprivation approach to poverty examines the indicators of deprivation, which are then related back to income levels and resources.
What is relative deprivation does this cause aggressive behavior?
According to the theory of relative deprivation (Smith et al., 2012), the experience of being worse off than others leads to anger and resentment. These hostile feelings then evoke aggressive action.
Why is relative deprivation important?
Relative deprivation is important because it is related to social movement theory. Social movement theory is the study of social mobilization. Grou...
Who invented relative deprivation theory?
Samuel Stouffer, a sociologist, coined the term relative deprivation. He discovered relative deprivation theory when he was studying WWII soldiers...
What is relative deprivation in criminology?
Relative deprivation in criminology was studied by John Braithwaite. He asserted that when people feel more deprived as the standard of living incr...
What leads to relative deprivation?
Comparison and feelings of deprivation lead to relative deprivation. Relative deprivation is the perceived feeling of deprivation when compared to...
What is an example of relative deprivation?
An example of relative deprivation psychology is when someone receives an iPhone for Christmas. Initially, they are pleased with their gift, until...
What is relative deprivation?
Relative deprivation is formally defined as an actual or perceived lack of resources required to maintain the quality of life (e.g. diet, activities, material possessions) to which various socioeconomic groups or individuals within those groups have grown accustomed, or are considered to be the accepted norm within the group.
What are the criticisms of relative deprivation theory?
Critics of relative deprivation theory have argued that it fails to explain why some people who, though deprived of rights or resources, fail to take part in social movements meant to attain those things.
What is the difference between absolute poverty and relative poverty?
Absolute poverty can threaten one’s very survival, while relative poverty may not but is likely to limit one’s ability to participate fully in their society . In 2015, the World Bank Group set the worldwide absolute poverty level at $1.90 per day per person based on purchasing power parities ( PPP) rates.
What is relative poverty?
Meanwhile, relative deprivation describes a level of poverty at which household income drops to a certain percentage below the country’s median income. For example, a country’s level of relative poverty could be set at 50 percent of its median income.
What is absolute poverty?
Absolute deprivation or absolute poverty is a potentially life-threatening situation that occurs when income falls below a level adequate to maintain food and shelter. In simpler terms, relative deprivation is a feeling that you are generally “worse off” than the people you associate with and compare yourself to.
What are some examples of fraternal deprivation?
Another more common example of fraternal deprivation is the feeling of envy felt by middle-class individuals when they see people on television portrayed as being middle-class driving luxury cars and wearing designed clothes. According to Runciman, fraternal deprivation also affects voting behavior, especially when appealing to extreme right-wing political candidates or movements.
Who developed the concept of relative deprivation?
Development of the concept of relative deprivation is often attributed to American sociologist Robert K. Merton, whose study of American soldiers during World War II revealed that soldiers in the Military Police were far less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion than regular GIs.
What is relative deprivation?
Relative deprivation is the lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed to or that are widely encouraged or approved in the society to which they belong . Measuring relative deprivation allows an objective comparison between the situation of the individual or group compared to the rest of society. Relative deprivation may also emphasise the individual experience of discontent when being deprived of something to which one believes oneself to be entitled, however emphasizing the perspective of the individual makes objective measurement problematic.
How many preconditions are there for relative deprivation?
In one of the first formal definitions of the relative deprivation, Walter Runciman noted that there are four preconditions of relative deprivation (of object X by person A):
What is the lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed?
The lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed to or that are widely encouraged or approved in the society to which they belong. Relative deprivation is the lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed ...
Why is the term "relative gratification" used?
In response to exploration of the concept of relative deprivation, the term 'relative gratification' has emerged in social psychology to discuss the opposite phenomenon.
Is deprivation relative or objective?
This differentiates relative deprivation from objective deprivation (also known as absolute deprivation or absolute poverty) - a condition that applies to all underprivileged people. This leads to an important conclusion: while the objective deprivation (poverty) in the world may change over time, relative deprivation will not, as long as social inequality persists and some humans are better off than others.
Which sociologists believe that relative differences in economic wealth are more important than absolute deprivation?
Relative and absolute deprivation. Some sociologists, for instance Karl Polanyi, have argued that relative differences in economic wealth are more important than absolute deprivation, and that it is more significant in determining human quality of life.
Is relative deprivation temporal?
Relative deprivation may be temporal; that is, it can be experienced by people that experience expansion of rights or wealth, followed by stagnation or reversal of those gains. Such phenomena are also known as unfulfilled rising expectations.
What is Relative Deprivation?
Let's say that it's Christmas and your parents just bought you a brand new iPhone. You've wanted this phone for a long time, and you were so excited to receive it as a gift. A few days after you get the phone you decide to go to your friend's house to show it off a little bit. When you get there, you find out that your friend's parents bought him a brand new car. How do you feel about your phone now? Are you still as happy as you were before?
Who coined the idea of relative deprivation?
This idea was coined by sociologist Samuel Stouffer, who studied how soldiers measured their personal success during World War II.
Who developed the relative deprivation theory?
Relative Deprivation theory is credited to sociologist Samuel Stouffer, who developed the approach while studying social psychology during World War II. Stouffer found that soldiers of that era measured their personal success not with the standards set by the military but on the experience they had within their individual units.
Why does the military police not have a sense of deprivation?
However, the private in the Military Police does not have this same sense of deprivation because in his unit promotions are not as prevalent. This conclusion made a tremendous impact on the field of sociology and would later be used to explain social movements and revolutions.
What is the opposite of relative deprivation?
The opposite of relative deprivation is relative satisfaction .
When did relative deprivation begin?
The use of relative deprivation by theorists such as John Braithwaite in criminology began in the late 1980s. In the post-war period, crime increased in most industrial societies, despite the rise in living standards. Absolute deprivation thus declined during this period, but the comparison of the more poverty, the more crime, was clearly not true.
What is Relative Deprivation Theory (RDT)?
Relative Deprivation Theory is a theory that explains the subjective dissatisfaction caused by one person’s relative position to the situation or position of another.
Why do people feel dissatisfaction when they compare their position to another?
The feelings of dissatisfaction that people get when comparing their position to another are relative because they arise from a comparison with norms that are not absolute and usually differ in time and place. This fact distinguishes relative deprivation from absolute deprivation, also known as absolute poverty.
What are some examples of fraternal deprivation?
Another example of fraternal deprivation is the envy that middle class people feel when they see people on television portrayed as middle class driving expensive cars and wearing exclusive watches. Fraternal deprivation is also linked to voting behavior. This mainly concerns voting behavior for extreme right-wing political movements.
How many conditions are there in Runciman's theory?
In Garry Runciman’s Relative Deprivation Theory, four conditions are set for relative deprivation. The conditions are about object X in relation to Person A.
Who developed the relative deprivation theory?
Relative Deprivation Theory stems from sociology and was developed in the 1930s. Both Garry Runciman and Ted Gurr are credited with developing the theory.
Theory
American sociologist Robert K. Merton was among the first (if not the first) to use the concept of relative deprivation in order to understand social deviance, using French sociologist Emile Durkheim 's concept of anomie as a starting point. [ citation needed]
Relativeness
Feelings of deprivation are relative, as they come from a comparison to social norms that are not absolute and usually differ from time and place. This differentiates relative deprivation from objective deprivation (also known as absolute deprivation or absolute poverty) - a condition that applies to all underprivileged people.
Relative and absolute deprivation
Some sociologists, for instance Karl Polanyi, have argued that relative differences in economic wealth are more important than absolute deprivation, and that it is more significant in determining human quality of life.
Critique
Critique of this theory has pointed out that this theory fails to explain why some people who feel discontent fail to take action and join social movements.
Quotations
Consider also this quotation from Karl Marx: "A house may be large or small; as long as the neighboring houses are likewise small, it satisfies all social requirement for a residence. But let there arise next to the little house a palace, and the little house shrinks to a hut.
Further reading
This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia ( view authors) .
What is relative poverty?
What is relative poverty? Generally this occurs when people are unable to obtain the resources needed to achieve the average standard of living compared to others in their community. The UN, the World Bank, individual countries, and many other entities each have their own relative poverty definitions. Setting a firm financial metric on relative poverty is difficult, since the average standard of living varies depending on the country or even area of a country someone lives in. In addition, relative poverty changes as the wealth and cost of living in an area increases or decreases over time. It is considered, however, the easiest way to determine an individual country's level of poverty.
How does relative poverty change?
In addition, relative poverty changes as the wealth and cost of living in an area increases or decreases over time. It is considered, however, the easiest way to determine an individual country's level of poverty.
What is absolute poverty?
Absolute poverty is more extreme than relative poverty. In this condition, a person is unable to provide for their basic needs, including food and shelter. The World Bank defines absolute poverty using the International Poverty Line (IPL), which as of 2015 stands at $1.90 income per day.
How does poverty affect people?
Relative poverty disproportionately affects people from minority groups, including those based on race, ethnicity, and gender. Women and people of color often face more difficulty in obtaining living wage jobs because of stereotypes, prejudices, and significant wage gaps. In some countries, minority groups are denied citizenship, face extra restrictions, and deal with social and cultural stigmatization, all factors which act as barriers to a good income.
How does lack of transportation affect income?
There are many services that can affect a person's ability to maintain a sufficient income. A person with small children will find it difficult to regularly attend a job if they cannot afford childcare for the times they are gone. Similarly, a person without a means of personal transportation will be limited to jobs they can either walk to or find reliable public transportation to. An inability to obtain these services will often directly affect income opportunities.
Why are people at risk of poverty?
As droughts, fires, flooding, and severe storms become more common around the world , many people are at risk of being pushed into poverty. Many of the world's most vulnerable people, who depend on trades such as hunting and farming for their livelihood, live in the areas most affected by climate change currently. As they lose access to water, have their resources destroyed by disasters, and are forced out of areas due to the changing climate and weather patterns, they are unlikely to easily find employment or new areas to move to.
How long does persistent poverty last?
Persistent poverty occurs when poverty lasts for three or more consecutive years. Measuring poverty can be done through a number of different approaches, each based on a different idea of what poverty is. The relative approach measures poverty as a percentage of the average income of others in a given area.
Relative Deprivation Theory Definition
Relative Deprivation Theory History
- Development of the concept of relative deprivation is often attributed to American sociologist Robert K. Merton, whose study of American soldiers during World War II revealed that soldiers in the Military Police were far less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion than regular GIs. In proposing one the first formal definitions of relative deprivation, British statesman and sociologi…
Relative Versus Absolute Deprivation
- Relative deprivation has a counterpart: absolute deprivation. Both of these are measures of poverty in a given country. Absolute deprivation describes a condition in which household income falls below a level needed to maintain the basic necessities of life, such as food and shelter. Meanwhile, relative deprivation describes a level of poverty at which household income drops to …
Critiques of Relative Deprivation Theory
- Critics of relative deprivation theory have argued that it fails to explain why some people who, though deprived of rights or resources, fail to take part in social movements meant to attain those things. During the Civil Rights Movement, for example, Black people who refused to participate in the movement were derisively referred to as “Uncle Toms” by other Black people in reference to t…
Sources
- Curran, Jeanne and Takata, Susan R. "Robert K. Merton." California State University, Dominguez Hills. (February 2003).
- Duclos, Jean-Yves. "Absolute and Relative Deprivation and the Measurement of Poverty." University Laval, Canada (2001).
- Runciman, Walter Garrison. "Relative deprivation and social justice: a study of attitudes to so…
- Curran, Jeanne and Takata, Susan R. "Robert K. Merton." California State University, Dominguez Hills. (February 2003).
- Duclos, Jean-Yves. "Absolute and Relative Deprivation and the Measurement of Poverty." University Laval, Canada (2001).
- Runciman, Walter Garrison. "Relative deprivation and social justice: a study of attitudes to social inequality in twentieth-century England." Routledge & Kegan Paul (1966). ISBN-10: 9780710039231.
- Gurr, Ted Robert (1970). “Why Men Rebel.”Routledge, November 30, 2011, ISBN-10: 9781594519147.
Overview
Relative deprivation is the lack of resources to sustain the diet, lifestyle, activities and amenities that an individual or group are accustomed to or that are widely encouraged or approved in the society to which they belong. Measuring relative deprivation allows an objective comparison between the situation of the individual or group compared to the rest of society. Relative deprivation may also emphasise the individual experience of discontent when being deprived of …
Theory
In one of the first formal definitions of the relative deprivation, Walter Runciman noted that there are four preconditions of relative deprivation (of object X by person A):
• Person A does not have X
• Person A knows of other persons that have X
• Person A wants to have X
Relativeness
Feelings of deprivation are relative, as they come from a comparison to social norms that are not absolute and usually differ from time and place. This differentiates relative deprivation from objective deprivation (also known as absolute deprivation or absolute poverty) - a condition that applies to all underprivileged people. This leads to an important conclusion: while the objective deprivation (poverty) in the world may change over time, relative deprivation will not, as long as s…
Relative and absolute deprivation
Some sociologists, for instance Karl Polanyi, have argued that relative differences in economic wealth are more important than absolute deprivation, and that it is more significant in determining human quality of life. This debate has important consequences for social policy, particularly on whether poverty can be eliminated simply by raising total wealth or whether egalitarian measures are also needed.
Critique
Critique of this theory has pointed out that this theory fails to explain why some people who feel discontent fail to take action and join social movements. Counter-arguments include that some people are prone to conflict-avoidance, are short-term-oriented, and that imminent life difficulties may arise since there is no guarantee that life-improvement will result from social action.
See also
• Envy
• Group conflict
• Keeping up with the Joneses
• Objective deprivation
• Relative fitness
Further reading
• James M. Olson, C. Peter Herman, Mark P. Zanna (ed.), Relative Deprivation and Social Comparison, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986, ISBN 0-89859-704-8, Google Print
• Wallace, Anthony F.C. 1956. "Revitalization Movements," American Anthropologist 58: 264-281.Wayback Machine