The study extends previous research in several ways. First, it assesses the relationship between relative deprivation and deviance from an individual-level analysis, since relative deprivation is an individual-level phenomenon. Second, diverse sources of comparisons that serve as meaningful frames of reference for individuals are assessed. The participants were drawn from responses in the fourth wave of data collection in an ongoing panel study. The original sample consisted of the seventh-grade students in a random half (18) of the 36 junior high schools in the Houston Independent School District (Texas) in 1971. A total of 7,618 students returned usable questionnaires. Those students who remained in the same schools and continued to be willing to participate in the study completed a similar questionnaire in 1972 (time 2) and 1973 (time 3). More than 6,000 of the original cohort of students were reinterviewed as young adults in their mid- to late 20's (time 4). The independent variable of interest was the presence of relative deprivation, measured by comparative family income. The study tested for the hypothesized mediating role of negative self-feelings in the relationship between relative deprivation and deviance. Generally, the findings are consistent with the hypothesis that perceived economic deprivation relative to friends, neighbors, and the Nation induces negative self-feelings, which, in turn, motivate adoption of deviant patterns that variously take the form of property crimes, violence, and drug use. 4 tables, 61 references, and appended listing of dependent variables (definitions)