How Laypeople Frame Inequality to Signal (Il)legitimacy: Strategic, Yet Potentially Counterproductive

Perceived legitimacy—a key predictor of responses to intergroup inequality—is influenced by systematic variations in how inequality is described in communication (“framing”). We examined variations in how laypeople frame inequality to convey (il)legitimacy. Participants (N = 419) received factual information about economic inequality and summarized it twice with two different communication goals: to present the inequality as legitimate and as illegitimate. We found no evidence of participants focusing more on poor people’s disadvantages than on rich people’s advantages to signal illegitimacy, although research suggests that this may be a promising strategy. Instead, participants referenced people (e.g., the poor) more and abstract constructs (e.g., poverty) less to communicate illegitimacy but were mostly unaware of doing so. In a follow-up study, participants (N = 396) judged statements meant to communicate illegitimacy as actually indicating higher, not lower, legitimacy beliefs. Thus, lay participants strategically framed inequality in ways that may actually backfire.