The national inferiority complex was described in 1958 by the Brazilian journalist Nelson Rodrigues as “how Brazilians voluntarily place themselves in a position of inferiority in comparison to the rest of the world.” In three experimental studies, we tested the hypothesis of a “national inferiority effect” on the behavior of Brazilian participants awarding compensation to a victim of police violence. Study 1 varied the skin color (Black vs. White) and cultural origin (Brazilian vs. African vs. European) of a target and demonstrated the presence of a selective national inferiority effect: participants awarded less compensation to the Brazilian victim than to the European, but higher compensation to the Brazilian victim than to the African, particularly when the victim was White. Study 2 replicated this effect, showing that the victim's skin color is a key factor in the emergence of the national inferiority complex. Study 3 went further and showed that the perceived injustice of an arrest mediates the national inferiority effect. The discussion suggests that the national inferiority complex could represent a compromise between positive distinctiveness and system justification motivations.

巴西记者纳尔逊·罗德里格斯（Nelson Rodrigues）在1958年将国家自卑情结描述为“与世界其他地方相比，巴西人如何自愿地将自己置于自卑的地位。” 在三项实验研究中，我们检验了对巴西参与者向警察暴力受害人给予赔偿的行为具有“国家自卑效应”的假设。研究1改变了目标对象的肤色（黑与白）和文化出身（巴西与非洲与欧洲），并证明了存在选择性的民族自卑效应：与欧洲人相比，参与者对巴西受害人的赔偿少，但对巴西受害人的赔偿要高于对非洲受害人的赔偿，尤其是在受害人是白人的情况下。研究2重现了这种影响，表明受害人的 肤色是民族自卑情结出现的关键因素。研究3进行得更进一步，表明逮捕的不公正感会导致民族自卑感。讨论表明，民族自卑情结可能代表着积极的独特性与制度合理性动机之间的折衷。