Br J Soc Psychol. 2022;00:1–21. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bjso | 1 © 2022 British Psychological Society. Received: 24 August 2021 | Accepted: 6 June 2022 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12554 ARTICLE ‘You don't compare horrors, you just don't do that’: Examining assumptions and extending the scope of comparative victim beliefs Johanna Ray Vollhardt 1 | Helin Ünal 1 | Rashmi Nair 2 1 Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA 2 Ashoka University, Clark University, Massachusetts, USA Correspondence Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA. Email: jvollhardt@clarku.edu Funding information American Psychological Foundation's Visionary Grant Abstract Social psychological research on collective victimhood has often focused on comparisons between the ingroup's and outgroups' collective victimization (i.e. comparative victim beliefs such as competitive victimhood or inclusive victim beliefs). This qualitative study examines how people in dif- ferent contexts of collective victimization and its aftermath make sense of items commonly used to assess comparative victim beliefs, and how they extend or challenge these con- structs and their underlying assumptions. We used thematic analysis to analyse eight focus group discussions among four minority groups in the United States with historical or more recent experiences of collective victimization (Armenian Americans, Burundian refugees, Jewish Americans and Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees). Findings extend commonly assessed comparative victim beliefs and reveal participants' critical perspectives on these constructs. The findings also highlight the dialectical structure of collec- tive victim beliefs: Participants not only endorsed but also rejected comparative victim beliefs, and relatedly described both ingroup power and outgroup power in the context of their group's victimization. These findings extend existing social psychological literature on comparative victim beliefs and intergroup relations. KEYWORDS collective victim beliefs, collective victimization, comparative victim beliefs, genocide, group-based power, refugees