When upward social mobility leads to frustration: Boudon’s game-theoretic model of relative deprivation and experimental evidence

Otten, Kasper

doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2019.100440

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Results are shown in Appendix Table A15 , and again show a considerable and significant positive effect of beliefs on competition behavior that is similar for both conditions. While there was already some indication that beliefs mattered for competition behavior in the allocated condition 14 , this was not previously tested and was limited only to the allocated condition. The similarly strong effect of beliefs in both conditions suggests that competition decisions are for a large part driven by beliefs on others’ competition regardless of whether competing is socially beneficial or socially wasteful.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A prior publication has analyzed the absolute level of competition in the allocated condition to study relative deprivation 14 . However, there has been no comparison of the unallocated and allocated condition yet.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A first analysis of the allocated condition showed that people compete more with lower competition costs and a higher number of rewards 14 . However, there has been no comparison between the allocated and unallocated condition yet, which is what we need in order to test whether people compete differently in situations where competition is socially beneficial and socially wasteful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human competition is not lower if competing is socially wasteful instead of socially beneficial

Otten

2022

Sci Rep

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Humans compete for jobs, promotions, income, status, and many other scarce goods. In some situations, allocating scarce goods via competition is socially beneficial. In other situations, competition is not necessary to allocate goods, and nevertheless engaging in competition creates inefficiencies and welfare loss. We use an incentivized lab experiment to study whether people compete differently depending on whether allocating scarce goods via competition is socially wasteful or socially beneficial. We find that competition behavior is strikingly similar in situations where competing is socially wasteful and socially beneficial. Accordingly, there is large excess competition in situations of wasteful competition, creating considerable efficiency losses. We find evidence of a social trap involved in this excess competition. People are considerably more likely to compete if they believe others compete, and their beliefs on others’ competition are similar in situations where competing is socially wasteful and socially beneficial. Interventions aimed at lowering beliefs on others’ competition may be an effective method of lowering excess competition to prevent inefficiencies and welfare loss.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human competition is not lower if competing is socially wasteful instead of socially beneficial

Otten

2022

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“…Secondly, their elevated levels of frustration is due to unfavorable comparisons with individuals in their new destination. In general, being more successful than relevant others such as friends and peers improves happiness through gaining a positive selfevaluation-but that achievers are likely to compare their situation negatively to relevant others because their relative position will have declined (Otten, 2020;Zang and de Graaf, 2016).…”

Section: Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Intragenerational Social Mobility and Well-being in Great Britain: A Biomarker Approach

2022

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Social theory has long predicted that social mobility, in particular downward social mobility, is detrimental to the well-being of individuals. Dissociative and “falling from grace” theories suggest that mobility is stressful due to the weakening of social ties, feelings of alienation, and loss of status. In light of these theories, it is a puzzle that the majority of quantitative studies in this area have shown null results. Our approach to resolve the puzzle is two-fold. First, we argue for a broader conception of the mobility process than is often used and thus focus on intragenerational occupational class mobility rather than restricting ourselves to the more commonly studied intergenerational mobility. Second, we argue that self-reported measures may be biased by habituation (or “entrenched deprivation”). Using nurse-collected health and biomarker data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2010–2012, N = 4,123), we derive a measure of allostatic load as an objective gauge of physiological “wear and tear” and compare patterns of mobility effects with self-reports of health using diagonal reference models. Our findings indicate a strong class gradient in both allostatic load and self-rated health, and that both first and current job matter for current well-being outcomes. However, in terms of the effects of mobility itself, we find that intragenerational social mobility is consequential for allostatic load, but not for self-rated health. Downward mobility is detrimental and upward mobility beneficial for well-being as assessed by allostatic load. Thus, these findings do not support the idea of generalized stress from dissociation, but they do support the “falling from grace” hypothesis of negative downward mobility effects. Our findings have a further implication, namely that the differences in mobility effects between the objective and subjective outcome infer the presence of entrenched deprivation. Null results in studies of self-rated outcomes may therefore be a methodological artifact, rather than an outright rejection of decades-old social theory.

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“…Initial research has mathematically demonstrated that the primary implications of the model remain stable when the underlying micro-assumptions are varied (Kosaka, 1986;Raub, 1984). Recent research has extended the model through agent-based modeling, suggesting that local network social comparisons (Manzo, 2011) and low entry costs into status competition (Otten, 2020) both amplify the effect of improving mobility on relative deprivation. Berger and Diekmann (2015) conducted the initial experimental assessment of the model and observed either static or reduced frustration as opportunities enhanced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does improved upward social mobility foster frustration and conflict? A large-scale online experiment testing Boudon’s model

Berger,

Diekmann,

Wehrli

2024

Rationality and Society

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The rise of populism has reignited scholarly interest in the paradox of societal advancement leading to frustration and social tension. Globalization and digitalization have increased social opportunities for parts of the population, but a substantial portion of society feels disadvantaged, resulting in discontent. This study, rooted in Boudon’s model of relative deprivation, examines the mechanisms that fuel this frustration. We conducted an online experiment involving 2114 US-based MTurk participants, in which we manipulated the availability of status positions to create varying degrees of upward social mobility. We also varied group sizes to ensure robustness. We assessed relative deprivation with structural, subjective, and behavioral measures. For example, frustration was measured using the “joy-of-destruction game,” in which subjects had to make the costly decision to destroy part of another player’s winnings. Contrary to the model’s prediction, we found that the proportion of individuals who were worse off, the losers, decreased consistently as mobility increased. This outcome can be attributed to overentry in conditions of low mobility and underentry in conditions of intermediate or high mobility. The losers displayed increased frustration and hostility towards noncompetitors and winners. Intriguingly, winners also exhibited heightened hostility. However, at the aggregate level, hostile behavior did not surge as conditions improved. In our exploratory analyses at the individual level, we identified several distinct patterns. Risk-tolerant individuals and women were more likely to enter competition. Conversely, those with advanced education levels showed a decreased inclination to competitiveness. Risk-tolerant individuals reported greater feelings of frustration and displayed increased hostility. This effect was also observed particularly among politically right-leaning individuals.

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When upward social mobility leads to frustration: Boudon’s game-theoretic model of relative deprivation and experimental evidence

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Human competition is not lower if competing is socially wasteful instead of socially beneficial

Human competition is not lower if competing is socially wasteful instead of socially beneficial

Intragenerational Social Mobility and Well-being in Great Britain: A Biomarker Approach

Does improved upward social mobility foster frustration and conflict? A large-scale online experiment testing Boudon’s model

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