A Japanese Version of the Personal Relative Deprivation Scale (J-PRDS): Development and validation of the J-PRDS

This study developed and validated a 5-item Japanese translation of the Personal Relative Deprivation Scale (J-PRDS5), originally developed in English by Callan et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1514–1529, (2008), Callan et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 955–973, (2011) to measure feelings of resentment and dissatisfaction stemming from the belief that one has been deprived of a desired or deserved outcome as compared to others similar to them. Most studies on feelings of personal relative deprivation (PRD) have included Western participants and no such studies have been conducted in Japan. To bridge this gap, we conducted a factor analysis of the J-PRDS5’s items, which demonstrated a single-factor structure consistent with Western studies. Through validation of the scale for Japan, our version (J-PRDS5) exhibited high internal consistency. In contrast to feelings of PRD, subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) focuses on cognitive appraisals by comparing oneself to all people in the same society. Higher J-PRDS5 scores were significantly and negatively correlated with SSS, and lower J-PRDS5 scores and higher SSS scores were significantly correlated with higher self-esteem, general health, and subjective well-being (SWB). Based on a mediation analysis, we found that PRD mediated the relationship between SSS and self-esteem, general health, and SWB. Our study is the first to assess individuals’ feelings of PRD in Japan, and our findings suggest that reducing feelings of PRD may improve individuals’ health and happiness.