Zero-sum thinking is a mindset in which individuals, groups, and nations view the world as a competitive arena, believing that one person’s success must come at the expense of someone else’s failure. This perspective assumes that resources, such as wealth, job opportunities, and social status, are limited. The mindset of when one person gains something, another must lose it, is known as the fixed-pie bias (Davidai & Tepper, 2023). This belief fosters a competitive and adversarial environment, which can contribute, for example, to negative attitudes toward immigrants or LGBTQ communities (Davidai & Ongis, 2019; Wilkins, Wellman, Toosi, Miller, Lisnek, & Martin, 2022).
Framing & Perspectives
Building on concepts from evolutionary psychology, some suggest that zero-sum beliefs were advantageous for our ancestors, who had to compete for scarce resources like food to survive (Davidai & Tepper, 2023). This mindset is particularly prevalent in hierarchical, collectivist societies with lower income levels, where competition for resources is more pronounced and social mobility is restricted. In such environments, people may develop zero-sum beliefs as a way to justify or navigate economic and social inequalities (Różycka-Tran, Alessandri, Jurek & Olech, 2018). Actual or perceived threats in one’s environment often trigger zero-sum beliefs. When individuals feel economically, politically, or socially insecure, they tend to interpret interactions as win-lose scenarios (Davidai & Tepper, 2023).
Beyond situational factors, intrapersonal traits also contribute to the prevalence of zero-sum thinking. Studies show that individuals with low agreeableness, high psychopathy, narcissism, and machiavellian tendencies are more likely to hold and act upon zero-sum assumptions (Różycka-Tran, Boski, & Wojciszke, 2015; ten Brinke, Black, Porter, & Carney, 2015). Suggesting that both environmental and personality factors shape how strongly someone perceives the world through a zero-sum lens.
Relevance
Zero-sum beliefs have significant intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences, influencing individuals’ emotions, social behaviors, and societal attitudes. These beliefs are at the heart of many common opinions, such as the idea that immigrants take jobs from native-born citizens, that economic success comes at the expense of others, or that increased rights for women diminish men’s power and status (Cave, 2025).
On a personal level, zero-sum thinking is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including negative affect, lower life satisfaction, and a generally pessimistic worldview (Różycka-Tran et al., 2021). Additionally, this mindset is linked to reduced engagement in social interactions and increased feelings of loneliness, as individuals may find it challenging to build cooperative and trusting relationships (Borawski, 2018).
At the societal level, zero-sum beliefs can affect intergroup relations and influence policy preferences. For example, they may drive opposition to immigration and support for restrictive immigration policies, as people perceive newcomers as direct competitors for jobs and resources (Davidai & Ongis, 2019). Furthermore, zero-sum thinking contributes to resistance against LGBTQ rights, with some individuals viewing the expansion of these rights as a threat to their personal or religious values (Wilkins et al., 2022). Understanding the impact of zero-sum beliefs is essential for addressing social divisions, promoting inclusivity, and fostering cooperative solutions to complex societal challenges.
Keywords: Belief In Limited Resources, Fixed-Pie Bias, Immigration, Social Divisions, Anti-Immigration Rhetoric, Classism, Social Mobility
Connected terms: Housewifization, Data Activism, Pink Tax, Job Polarization, Xenophobia, White Defensiveness (Mechanisms), White Fragility, White Guilt, Whitewashing, White Tears, White Silence
References
Borawski, D. (2018). The loneliness of the zero-sum game loser. The balance of social exchange and belief in a zero-sum game as predictors of loneliness. Personality and Individual Differences, 135, 270-276.
Cave, D. (2025, March 1). Welcome to the Zero Sum Era. Now How Do We Get Out? The New York Times. From: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/world/asia/trump-zero-sum-world.html
Davidai, S., & Ongis, M. (2019). The politics of zero-sum thinking: The relationship between political ideology and the belief that life is a zero-sum game. Science advances, 5(12). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aay3761
Davidai, S., & Tepper, S. J. (2023). The psychology of zero-sum beliefs. Nature Reviews Psychology, 2(8), 472–482. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00194-9
Różycka-Tran, J., Alessandri, G., Jurek, P., & Olech, M. (2018). A test of construct isomorphism of the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game scale: A multilevel 43-nation study. PLOS ONE, 13(9), e0203196. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203196
Różycka-Tran, J., Boski, P., & Wojciszke, B. (2015). Belief in a zero-sum game as a social axiom: A 37-nation study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(4), 525-548.
Różycka-Tran, J., Piotrowski, J. P., Żemojtel-Piotrowska, M., Jurek, P., Osin, E. N., Adams, B. G., Ardi, R., Bălțătescu, S., Bhomi, A. L., Bogomaz, S. A., Cieciuch, J., Clinton, A., de Clunie, G. T., Czarna, A. Z., Esteves, C. S., Gouveia, V., Halik, M. H. J., Kachatryan, N., Kamble, S. V., … Maltby, J. (2021). Belief in a zero-sum game and subjective well-being across 35 countries. Current Psychology, 40(7), 3575–3584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00291-0
ten Brinke, L., Black, P. J., Porter, S., & Carney, D. R. (2015). Psychopathic personality traits predict competitive wins and cooperative losses in negotiation. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 116122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.001
Wilkins, C. L., Wellman, J. D., Toosi, N. R., Miller, C. A., Lisnek, J. A., & Martin, L. A. (2022). Is LGBT progress seen as an attack on Christians?: Examining Christian/sexual orientation zero-sum beliefs. Journal of personality and social psychology, 122(1), 73.
