Contesting relative deprivation: A multidisciplinary theoretical and historical critique

Relative deprivation, conceptualized as a form of subjective relative comparison, is a relatively new notion in Public Health with roots in social psychology, economics and sociology. Coined by Stouffer, this notion recently gained prominence in public health as a potential mechanism explaining health inequalities resulting from social and economic inequalities. However, its definition within public health is divorced from its theoretical and historical contexts. This paper is a review of the literature around relative deprivation since its conception, documenting its definitions, the conceptual frameworks proposed to explain it, and the various measurement strategies adopted to quantify it. The criticism it has received is also investigated, especially regarding the lack of theoretical rigor and standardized empirical methods for testing it. A review of relative deprivation in the public health literature follows and important conclusions are drawn underscoring the need for caution in using such a notion since it relies on the interpretations of the effect of social and economic inequalities on health at the level of the individual, rather than addressing the structural causes and determinants of these inequalities.