Inequality has been linked with many negative consequences for both
societies and individuals. The harmful effects of perceived inequality
operate at the individual level through the experience of personal relative
deprivation leading to psychosocial stress. We examined if feelings of
personal relative deprivation were related to participation in group
decision-making, and predicted that greater feelings of deprivation would
be related to less participation. That is, deprived individuals would
assess others as having greater ability/opportunity to contribute (i.e.
lower cost) and as a result would down-regulate their (potentially high
cost) contributions within the group. We examined the relationship between
relative deprivation and group participation in a simulated high-pressure
hypothetical scenario. Students (N = 192) in groups of 6 had to come to a
consensus decision despite being assigned roles with competing interests.
Results indicate that relative deprivation predicted 9% of variance in
exercise participation over and above demographic and situation-related
variables (e.g. stress, competition, agreement with role), such that more
relative deprivation was related to less participation. The overall
regression model accounted for 58% of variance in participation. These
findings suggest that negative social comparisons related to inequality
have critical implications for group-based decision making and small group
dynamics.