Why does relative deprivation affect mental health? The role of justice, trust and social rank in psychological wellbeing and paranoid ideation
Abstract
Purpose
Relative deprivation is associated with poor mental health but the mechanisms responsible have rarely been studied. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that childhood perceived relative deprivation (PRD) would be linked to sub-syndromal psychotic symptoms and poor wellbeing via beliefs about justice, trust and social rank.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 683 undergraduate students were administered measures of childhood PRD, hallucination-proneness, paranoia and wellbeing and measures of trust, social rank and beliefs about justice. A subsample supplied childhood address data. Multiple mediation analysis was used to assess pathways from childhood experiences to outcomes.
Findings
Childhood PRD was associated with all three outcomes. The relationship between PRD and paranoia was fully mediated by perceptions that the world is unjust for the self and low social rank. The same variables mediated the relationship between PRD and poor wellbeing. There were no significant mediators of the relationship between PRD and hallucination-proneness.
Research limitations/implications
Although our outcome measures have been validated with student samples, it may not be representative. The study is cross-sectional with a retrospective measure of PRD, although similar results were found using childhood addresses to infer objective deprivation. Further studies are required using prospective measures and patient samples.
Social implications
Social circumstances that promote feelings of low social worth and injustice may confer risk of poor psychological outcome. Ameliorating these circumstances may improve population mental health.
Originality/value
Improvements in public mental health will require an understanding of the mechanisms linking adversity to poor outcomes. This paper explores some probable mechanisms which have hitherto been neglected.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a studentship awarded to Ms Sophie Wickham by the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society at the University of Liverpool.
Citation
Wickham, S., Shryane, N., Lyons, M., Dickins, T. and Bentall, R. (2014), "Why does relative deprivation affect mental health? The role of justice, trust and social rank in psychological wellbeing and paranoid ideation", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 114-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-06-2013-0049
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited