They shouldn’t be richer than me: How visual wealth exposure on social media increases relative deprivation

Previous research suggests there is a close link between social media use and individuals’ relative deprivation, but it remains unclear which specific activities on social media can increase individuals’ relative deprivation. Given that, three studies were conducted to examine how visual wealth exposure, a common phenomenon on social media, increased individuals’ relative deprivation, and the subsequent downstream consequences. By conducting an online questionnaire, Study 1 found a significantly positive relationship between visual wealth exposure on social media and relative deprivation, and upward social comparison played a mediating role between them. By conducting an online experiment, Study 2 found that participants in the wealth image exposure condition perceived higher relative deprivation than participants in the natural scenery image exposure condition, and upward social comparison played a mediating role between exposure condition and relative deprivation. The following Study 3 found that visual wealth exposure increased participants’ hostilities toward the rich via the mediating role of relative deprivation. Moreover, hostilities toward the rich further provoked aggressive behaviors. That is, visual wealth exposure increased participants’ aggressive behaviors via the chain-mediating role of relative deprivation and hostilities toward the rich. The present research deepens our understanding of how social media use increases individuals’ relative deprivation and social class antagonism, and also carries implications for how authorities alleviate the increasing conflicts between the poor and the rich in China-Mainland.