Abstract: Karl Marx wrote : “A house may be large or small, as long as the surrounding houses are equally small, it satisfies all social demands for a dwelling. But if a palace arise beside the little house, the little house shrinks into a hut.”This observation vividly describes an important psychological construct- relative deprivation. Modern theorizing about relative deprivation dates from World War II. Samuel Stouffer and his colleagues first used the term relative deprivation in their study. Relative deprivation indicates a judgment that one or one’s ingroup is disadvantaged compared to a relevant referent, and that this judgment invokes feelings of anger and resentment. Relative deprivation includes individual relative deprivation and group relative deprivation. Individual relative deprivation is an interpersonal comparison between the individual and another, or a comparison between an individual’s current situation and his or her past or future situation. In contrast, group relative deprivation is an intergroup comparison between an individual’s group and another group, or between the group’s current situation and that group’s past or future situation. Crosby views relative deprivation as an intervening variable rather than a hypothetical construct. Crosby claims that an individual feels relative deprivation, five preconditions must to be met. The person who lacks X must see that someone else (other ) possesses, want X, feel entitled to X, think it feasible to obtain X, and lack a sense of personal responsibility for not having X. Smith and Huo construct a model of relative deprivation, including individual’s or ingroup’s position in local environment, comparison type, emotional reaction, opportunity for change and behavior reaction. If the individual’s situation is undeserved compared to another person or self at another point in time, or the group’s situation is undeserved compared to another group or own group at another point in time, the individual will become anger or resentment. This moment, if the system is open and there is opportunity for change, individual will use normative ways to improve personal situation(e.g., moonlighting and professional development), group will use normative forms of protest(e.g., sign petitions, attend rallies). If the system is closed and there isn’t opportunity for change, individual will use non-normative ways to improve personal situation(e.g., theft, vandalism), group will use non-normative forms of protest(e.g., block road illegally, damage property). Research indicates that some factors have an important influence on individual relative deprivation or group relative deprivation, including age, education, family income, subjective social class, ingroup identification, intergroup contact, speed and direction of social change, etc. Moreover, individual relative deprivation has an important influence on personal mentality and behavior, including personal well-being, depression, self-esteem, morbidity, premature mortality, participation in development activities, gambling behavior, and so on. Group relative deprivation has an important influence on group’s attitude and behavior, including collective self-esteem, intergroup discrimination, prejudice, intergroup destructive competition, protest, political mobilization, etc. However, there are still several limits in the domain of psychological inquiry of relative deprivation. According to these limitations, we suggest that the direction of future research are as following. First, future research is needed to better understand the difference between relative deprivation theory and justice theory. Second, social comparison includes interpersonal level and intergroup level, when and whom will someone or some group choose to compare themselves, why certain dimensions of the referent are selected for comparison and others not, these questions need to be researched comprehensively. Third, research indicates that relative deprivation has an important influence on mentality and behavior, future research is needed to explore the mechanism of relative deprivation.

Key words: individual relative deprivation, group relative deprivation, mental health, behavioral responses

摘要： 相对剥夺感是指与某一标准相比较，个体觉得自己或自己所在群体状况更加糟糕，并产生生气或怨恨的情感反应。相对剥夺感包括个人和群体相对剥夺感。研究表明，家庭收入、主观社会阶层、群体内认同，以及社会变化的速度和方向等对个人或群体相对剥夺感产生显著影响。相对剥夺感对个体的身心健康和行为，以及群体的态度与行为均具有显著的影响。但是，有关相对剥夺感与公正理论的异同、相对剥夺感的测量、参照对象与比较方式，以及相对剥夺感的影响机制等方面还有待深入探讨。

关键词: 个人相对剥夺感, 群体相对剥夺感, 心理健康, 行为反应