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How does relative deprivation relate to aggression in young male migrant workers? The mediator of self-esteem

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Abstract

The current study aimed to explore the relationship among relative deprivation, self-esteem, and aggression in young male migrant workers, focusing especially on the mediating effect of self-esteem between relative deprivation and aggression. A total of 232 young male migrant workers (n = 214 valid samples; average age, 23.98 years) were recruited in Sichuan, China. The participants were assessed using the relative deprivation scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and Buss & Perry aggression scale. The data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, variance analysis, correlation analyses, and structural equation model analysis. There were significant differences in relative deprivation, self-esteem, and aggression in subjects with different marital status and educational background. Relative deprivation was significantly correlated with self-esteem (r = −0.37, p < 0.01) and all dimensions of aggression (r = 0.56–0.64, p < 0.01). Both structural equation modeling and bootstrap test demonstrated that self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between relative deprivation and aggression. The 95% confidence intervals of the indirect effect were 0.10–0.19. In conclusion, both relative deprivation and self-esteem were related to aggression in young male migrant workers, and self-esteem partially mediated the effect of relative deprivation on aggression.

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Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Funding

This study was funded by the MOE (Ministry of Education in China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (No. 19YJC190020); the National Social Science Foundation of China (19BKS220).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Teachers, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China

    Jiaxi Peng, Zuyu Xia, Xinze Wang, Ziweiyi Dan & Siqing Zheng

  2. Xi’an Research Institute of High Technology, Xi’an, China

    Jiaxi Zhang

  3. The Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China

    Jing Lv

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Ethics Statement

American Psychological Association and Institutional Review Board guidelines were followed. The Ethics Committee of the authors’ University approved the study. Prior to testing, we obtained written consent from all participants.

Conflict of Interest

Jiaxi Peng declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Jiaxi Zhang declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Zuyu Xia declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Xinze Wang declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Weiyi Danze declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Siqing Zheng declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Jing Lv declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Peng, J., Zhang, J., Xia, Z. et al. How does relative deprivation relate to aggression in young male migrant workers? The mediator of self-esteem. Curr Psychol 42, 8136–8143 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02094-8

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