What is competitive victimhood in simple terms?

Two groups in conflict arguing over who is the real victim: "we suffered more, and more unfairly."

Research suggests that inclusive victim consciousness, acknowledging commonalities with other groups' suffering, improves outgroup attitudes and aids reconciliation.

Competitive Victimhood

🏛️ Politics & Public Administration By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Competitive victimhood is the phenomenon in which groups in conflict compete to claim that their own group has suffered more, and more unjustly. They contest the amount of suffering, its injustice and who the real victim is. Masi Noor and colleagues systematized the concept, drawing on research in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. Such competition justifies the ingroup's violence, leads members to ignore the other side's suffering and makes reconciliation and forgiveness difficult.

Contents

1. Concept and background
2. Functions and motives
3. Barriers to reconciliation and alternatives
4. FAQ
5. References

Concept and background

Bar-Tal and colleagues (2009) showed that in protracted, intractable conflicts group members share a sense of collective victimhood, the belief that "our group is the one unjustly harmed." This belief strengthens cohesion and gives suffering meaning, but it also leads members to see the other side entirely as perpetrators. Noor and colleagues (2012) framed the phenomenon in which both parties to a conflict claim and compete for victim status as competitive victimhood. The sides may contest the amount of suffering, whose suffering was more unjust and who bears responsibility for the conflict.

Functions and motives

Competitive victimhood serves several psychological functions. It makes the ingroup's violence look like self-defense, protecting its moral image; it wins outside sympathy and support; and it places responsibility on the other side. Shnabel and Nadler (2008) proposed a needs-based model of reconciliation in which victim groups seek power and respect and perpetrator groups seek moral acceptance; when both sides claim victimhood, these needs go unmet and conflict persists. Sullivan and colleagues (2012) showed that people told their group had caused harm emphasized their group's own suffering more, showing that competitive victimhood can also be a defensive response that reduces guilt.

Barriers to reconciliation and alternatives

Noor and colleagues (2008) showed that among Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, stronger competitive victimhood was associated with lower trust in and empathy for the other group and less willingness to forgive. Such competition can reinforce moral exclusion and affective polarization. Vollhardt (2015) proposed inclusive victim consciousness, acknowledging commonalities with the suffering of other groups, as an alternative. Vollhardt and Bilali (2015) found in data from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that inclusive victim consciousness was linked to more positive outgroup attitudes and exclusive victim consciousness to more negative ones.

FAQ

What is competitive victimhood in simple terms?: Two groups in conflict arguing over who is the real victim: "we suffered more, and more unfairly."
How can it be eased?: Research suggests that inclusive victim consciousness, acknowledging commonalities with other groups' suffering, improves outgroup attitudes and aids reconciliation.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Noor, M., Brown, R., & Prentice, G. (2008). Precursors and mediators of intergroup reconciliation in Northern Ireland: A new model. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47(3), 481–495. Competitive victimhood impedes forgiveness in Northern Ireland.
Shnabel, N., & Nadler, A. (2008). A needs-based model of reconciliation: Satisfying the differential emotional needs of victim and perpetrator as a key to promoting reconciliation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(1), 116–132. The needs-based model of reconciliation.
Bar-Tal, D., Chernyak-Hai, L., Schori, N., & Gundar, A. (2009). A sense of self-perceived collective victimhood in intractable conflicts. International Review of the Red Cross, 91(874), 229–258. Collective victimhood in intractable conflicts.
Noor, M., Shnabel, N., Halabi, S., & Nadler, A. (2012). When suffering begets suffering: The psychology of competitive victimhood between adversarial groups in violent conflicts. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(4), 351–374. The key review of competitive victimhood.
Sullivan, D., Landau, M. J., Branscombe, N. R., & Rothschild, Z. K. (2012). Competitive victimhood as a response to accusations of ingroup harm doing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), 778–795. Victimhood claims as a defense against harm-doing accusations.
Vollhardt, J. R. (2015). Inclusive victim consciousness in advocacy, social movements, and intergroup relations: Promises and pitfalls. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9(1), 89–120. Inclusive victim consciousness as an alternative.
Vollhardt, J. R., & Bilali, R. (2015). The role of inclusive and exclusive victim consciousness in predicting intergroup attitudes: Findings from Rwanda, Burundi, and DRC. Political Psychology, 36(5), 489–506. Inclusive vs exclusive victim consciousness in the Great Lakes region.

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.