relative deprivation
the perception by an individual that the amount of a desired resource (e.g., money, social status) he or she has is less than some comparison standard. This standard can be the amount that was expected or the amount possessed by others with whom the person compares himself or herself. The concept was introduced as a result of studies of morale in the U.S. Army during World War II; conducted by U.S. sociologist Samuel A. Stouffer (1900–1960) and colleagues, the studies indicated that soldiers were dissatisfied if they believed they were not obtaining as many military rewards and benefits as their peers. In 1966, British sociologist Walter Garrison Runciman (1934– ) distinguished between egoistic relative deprivation, the perceived discrepancy between an individual’s own current position and the comparison standard, and fraternalistic relative deprivation, the perceived discrepancy between the position that the
person’s ingroup actually has and the position the person thinks it ought to have. According to some research, social unrest tends to be greatest in areas with high levels of relative deprivation. See also equity theory; social comparison theory; social exchange theory.