Fraternal relative deprivation : the cognitive vs affective distinction and protest orientation among Indian South Africans.

Abstract

The study examined the differential effect of cognitive and affective fraternal relative deprivation (RD) on protest orientation. The subjects were 120 Indian adults comprising 60 professionals and 60 non-professionals. Cantril's (1965) ladder was used to tap cognitive fraternal RD. A list of six emotions gauged affective fraternal RD and the Muller (1972) and Grofman and Muller (1973) measure of potential for collective violence assessed protest orientation. Results show that blacks are perceived to be worse-off, whites better-off and coloureds similar to the ingroup. Professionals experience a greater absence of cognitive fraternal RD than nonprofessionals when the target comparison groups are blacks and coloureds, and greater affective fraternal RD than non-professionals when the target comparison groups are blacks and whites. To examine the effect of cognitive fraternal RD, affective fraternal RD and occupational status on protest orientation, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted. The model revealed that 35% of the variance was significantly accounted for (p<0.05). The affective component contributed the greater proportion of the variance. The results highlight the importance of differentiating the cognitive from the affective component of fraternal RD. The limitations of the study are considered and directions for future research are offered.