UC Santa Barbara

The way we understand an inequality can depend on small differences in how the inequality is described. This research focuses on one subtle but potentially powerful difference in how inequalities are described: advantage vs. disadvantage framing. When an inequality is described using an advantage frame (e.g., “men have higher wages than women”), it puts the focus on the advantages held by the advantaged group. In contrast, when an inequality is described using a disadvantage frame (e.g., “women have lower wages than men”), it puts the focus on the disadvantages faced by the disadvantaged group. This dissertation investigates the hypothesis that when advantaged by an illegitimate inequality, individuals will avoid using advantage frames. I hypothesize that this will occur because focusing on one’s unfair advantages is more threatening that focusing on another’s unfair disadvantages. In four pilot studies and seven experiments (N = 2,669), I found tentative support for these hypotheses: In Studies 1-3, I found evidence that when advantaged by an inequality (but not when disadvantaged by an inequality), individuals were less likely to use advantage frames when the inequality they were describing was illegitimate (vs. legitimate). This suggests that individuals may avoid using advantage frames when their group is illegitimately favored in order to avoid focusing on their unfair advantages. Studies 4-7 investigated the role of threat in how individuals advantaged by illegitimate inequalities use and respond to inequality frames. I found that advantage frames prompted more cardiovascular threat than disadvantage frames among Whites preparing to discuss illegitimate racial inequality. However, I did not find concrete evidence for the two theorized mechanisms behind this threat, nor did I find direct evidence that threat influences which inequality frames individuals choose to use when describing the illegitimate inequalities. This research helps illuminate the potentially large effects of small linguistic differences in our descriptions of inequality. It also highlights the subtle ways that those who are advantaged by inequality may shift their descriptions of inequality to avoid challenges to their position.