Relative deprivation theory and the Quebec nationalist movement: The cognition–emotion distinction and the personal–group deprivation issue.

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of unfavorable intergroup comparisons on feelings of group discontent and examined the importance of various types of relative deprivation (RD) to explain militant sociopolitical attitudes (or nationalism). Francophones from Montreal answered a questionnaire that either informed them that according to several studies, Francophones have a lower average annual income than Anglophones or did not inform them at all. Results revealed that informed respondents perceived a wider economic difference between groups than uninformed respondents (p < .02), but this manipulation had no effect on other variables including fraternal RD (group discontent). The feeling of fraternal RD was found to be as strongly related to a global index of nationalism as the perceived economic gap between the groups. In contrast, measures of egoistic RD (personal discontent) were not related to this index. It is concluded (a) that the results support theories that conceptualize RD as being more than simply a cognition or a perception of deprivation and (b) that fraternal RD, rather than egoistic RD as current theories suggest, is an important factor in the explanation of protest movements. Theories developed by American political