Relative Deprivation Leads to the Endorsement of “Anti-Chicken Soup” in China

Abstract

“Anti-chicken soup” (ACS) persuades people to yield to reality and give up rather than encouraging people to work hard as “chicken soup” does. The current study explored whether people with a higher level of relative deprivation (RD) would be more likely to endorse ACS. We found that people with high-measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2) RD were more likely to endorse ACS. Study 2 also suggested that the effect was mediated by self-handicapping. It seems that relatively deprived individuals may adopt the strategy of self-handicapping so that they could attribute their failure to external causes, which in turn leads to lower motivation to try their best and ultimately the endorsement of ACS.