Objectively privileged groups can feel victimized, justifying resistance to redress.

Evidence

This finding may be explained by relative deprivation theory (Smith et al. 2012), which posits that competition over resources can be driven by the subjective perception of a discrepancy between what one’s ingroup actually has and what one believes it deserves. Thus, when asked to relinquish resources they feel entitled to, members of historically perpetrator groups—even if they objectively enjoy a higher status— may feel victimized and attempt to establish their own victimization to avoid surrendering the resources they believe they rightfully deserve. — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations, 125

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A majority, advantaged group reports feeling more victimised than the minority it once victimised. — R. C. Tripathi, R. Kumar, and V. N. Tripathi, When the Advantaged Feel Victimised:…, 52; For the privileged, equality can feel like discrimination — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 192; Dehumanized victims become a nuisance whose resistance grants functionaries moral self-esteem. — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 301 (+1 more)

Related

• A majority, advantaged group reports feeling more victimised than the minority it once victimised. (similarity 0.84)
• Advantaged groups avoid guilt by denying inequality or dodging responsibility (similarity 0.83)
• Objectively powerful groups claim victim status by merging current and past enemies (similarity 0.83)
• Empowering victim groups requires honoring resilience and heritage, not reducing identity to victimhood. (similarity 0.82)
• Narrated victimhood, not raw emotion, drives revenge among the advantaged group. (similarity 0.81)
• Victim groups seek agentic power while perpetrator groups seek moral reacceptance (similarity 0.80)
• Hindu victimhood arises from ingroup identity, not from relative disadvantage. (similarity 0.80)
• Competitive victimhood serves opposite identity needs for victims versus perpetrator groups. (similarity 0.80)
• Proliferating victimhood claims blur genuine from strategic and fuel mutual status contestation. (similarity 0.79)
• Perceived illegitimacy of advantage triggers dominant-group hostility (similarity 0.79)
• Both perpetrator- and victim-group members engage in competitive victimhood when accused (similarity 0.79)
• Prejudice victims may become either more or less prejudiced than average against others (similarity 0.79)
• Victimisation among advantaged groups likely works differently than among minorities (similarity 0.78)
• Endorsement and perceived effectiveness of victimhood claims are mutually reinforcing (similarity 0.78)
• Dominant groups prefer abstract rights claims as a strategic silencing tactic (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• A majority, advantaged group reports feeling more victimised than the minority it once victimised. #exemplifies (0.95) — R. C. Tripathi, R. Kumar, and V. N. Tripathi, When the Advantaged Feel Victimised, 52
• For the privileged, equality can feel like discrimination #exemplifies (0.90) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 192
• Objectively powerful groups claim victim status by merging current and past enemies #expands (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 2146
• Dehumanized victims become a nuisance whose resistance grants functionaries moral self-esteem. #expands (0.75) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 301