Ungerechtigkeitserleben im Vereinigungsprozeß: Folgen für das emotionale Befinden und die seelische Gesundheit

Stereotypic ingroup bias as self‐defense against relative deprivation: evidence from a longitudinal study of the German unification process

“…According to the most recent version of RDT (Crosby, 1982), a sense of relative deprivation is therefore a very likely reaction of East Germans. In line with this prediction, most East Germans want better outcomes and feel that they deserve better outcomes (Mummendey et al, 1999a;Schmitt et al, 1999;Wenzel, 1996Wenzel, , 2000. Furthermore, empirical evidence is available , and will be presented later, showing that East Germans feel unfairly deprived of desirable outcomes as a group.…”

“…(2) the material, social, and cultural living conditions are objectively poorer in East Germany than in West Germany (e.g. Noll & Habich, 2000); (3) East Germans are aware of their multiple material and symbolic disadvantages (Schmitt, Maes, & Schmal, 1999); (4) a majority of East Germans consider their disadvantages as illegitimate (Mummendey et al, 1999a). According to the most recent version of RDT (Crosby, 1982), a sense of relative deprivation is therefore a very likely reaction of East Germans.…”

Human development in times of social change: Theoretical considerations and research needs

“…For example, negative consequences of social change, such as becoming unemployed, may be attributed externally (as a consequence of social change) rather than to individual failure, and may have, therefore, less negative consequences on psychological well-being (Achberger, Linden, & Benkert, 1999;Forkel & Silbereisen, 2001). Similarly, positive outcomes of social comparisons with others in worse circumstances or with one's own previously worse situation may help to protect one's subjective well-being despite present negative personal consequences of social change (Schmitt et al, 1998). Fourth, because the perception of stress changes across the coping process (primary appraisals vs. reappraisals), we need longitudinal studies that measure appraisals immediately upon individuals facing social change, and that follow the individuals in their coping efforts.…”

“…However, empirical studies that compared East Germans with their expectedly less distressed West German counterparts showed very inconsistent results. Some studies found slightly lower levels of life satisfaction (e.g., Schmitt, Maes, & Schmal, 1998;Veen, 1994), selfesteem (e.g., Noack et al, 2001), and higher levels of depressive symptoms (e.g., Ihle, Esser, Schmidt, Blanz, Reis, & Mayer-Probst, 2001;Pollmer & Hurrelmann, 1992) in East German compared to West German adolescents and adults. However, many other studies did not find East-West differences in self-esteem (e.g., Noack, Hofer, Kracke, & Klein-Allermann, 1995;Sydow et al, 1999) and depression (e.g., Forkel & Silbereisen, 2001;Noack et al, 1995Noack et al, , 2001Sydow et al, 1999), and at least one study even reported higher levels of psychological distress in West Germans than in East Germans (Basten et al, 1994).…”