Five cross-sectional pre-registered studies (N = 2925) were conducted in different European countries to examine personal economic relative deprivation and perceived ingroup injustice as predictors of alienation from society (i.e., societal alienation), alongside the role of humiliation. Additionally, the authors explored whether the adoption of anti-mainstream identities is linked to the collective roots of societal alienation. Across all studies, anti-mainstream identities were operationalized as identities opposing the status quo, endorsing anti-mainstream narratives, or subjectively defined as anti-mainstream. Results consistently revealed that both personal economic relative deprivation and perceived ingroup injustice significantly predicted societal alienation. Furthermore, anti-mainstream identities exhibited a serial indirect effect on societal alienation through heightened perceived ingroup injustice and experienced humiliation in Studies 1a-3a, and through heightened perceived ingroup injustice in Study 3b. This research contributes to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underpinning societal alienation, a precursor to various societal outcomes, including the rise of authoritarian populism or political polarization.
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