Relative Deprivation in Contemporary South Africa

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between relative deprivation, ethnic identification, and racial attitudes was investigated in random samples of 460 Whites and 466 Blacks on the eve of a new political dispensation in South Africa. Measurements of relative deprivation were obtained with regard to the social, financial, political, and work situation. Regression analyses indicated that the strongest predictors of White attitudes toward Blacks were work-related deprivation and ethnic identification. Other predictors were gender and educational qualifications. Political and social relative deprivation, attitudes toward the in-group, income, and gender influenced Black attitudes toward Whites. The results of the study are explained against the background of sociopolitical and economic changes in South Africa.