Examination of the Link Between Modesty, Group-Based Relative Deprivation, and Violent and Non-Violent Group Mobilization

In recent years we have witnessed a growing violent and non-violent mobilization among structurally advantaged groups (e.g., White Americans/Europeans, men) who claim that their group is disadvantaged relative to other groups in society.

Research has not shed adequate light on why some members of structurally advantaged groups perceive that their group is unjustly disadvantaged, and limited research has properly examined the role of personality traits.

Recently, Lindström, Bergh, & Akrami (2023) found that modesty was negatively associated with group-based relative deprivation among members of structurally advantaged groups (White Americans, men), but not members of structurally disadvantaged groups.

The proposed research project will attempt to dig deeper into this phenomenon by further investigating the relationship between modesty and feelings of group-based relative deprivation using experimental designs administered through surveys (3 different experiments each replicated once).

The project will also examine how these variables are related to non-violent as well as violent group mobilisation (e.g., endorsement of different forms of right-wing extremist violence). The data will be analysed using quantitative methods.

The research would be conducted over three years, The Swedish institute I would be based at is the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, and two years would be spent abroad at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo.