We are victims! How observers evaluate a group's claim of collective victimhood

Intergroup relations often involve a competitive narrative revolving around claims of collective victimhood. This article investigates how the communication of such claims impacts third-party perceptions of the group's structure and future actions. Two experiments explored the underlying processes that shape such third-party perceptions. Study 1 (N = 86) showed that victim-claiming groups were perceived as more uncertain than groups not claiming victimhood and as a result as less entitative units. Study 2 (N = 165) showed that victimhood-claiming groups' intentions toward violent and retributive acts were legitimized by observers through perceptions of heightened uncertainty. Claims of collective victimhood help groups justify the adoption of a violent strategy against an antagonistic outgroup through perceived heightened uncertainty. Further, Study 2 showed that power moderated the relationship between victimhood claims by groups and the perceived entitativity of such groups-low-power groups communicating a message of victimhood were perceived as more entitative than low-power groups not making such claims. Implications of third-party perceptions of conflicting groups on already troubled intergroup relations are discussed.