by Wei-Ting Yen and Li-Yin Liu
This article examines how public attitudes toward universal basic income form when clear partisan cues are absent. Drawing on cultural theory, the authors show how deeper value orientations shape how individuals interpret policy arguments about universal basic income.
Universal basic income refers to a policy in which all individuals receive a regular, unconditional payment from the state regardless of income or employment status. In recent years, the idea has attracted global attention as governments consider how to respond to economic disruption, technological change, and labour market uncertainty. Yet public opinion on the policy remains divided, and existing research often explains support in terms of ideology or party identification.
Universal basic income and policy framing
Yen and Liu focus on a context where such partisan signals are less prominent. Their study examines attitudes toward universal basic income in Taiwan, where the policy has not yet become strongly politicised. This setting allows the authors to explore how individuals interpret policy proposals before partisan alignment becomes the dominant influence.
To investigate this question, the authors conducted an online survey experiment in which respondents were presented with different ways of framing universal basic income. Policy framing refers to how an issue is presented or emphasised in political communication—for example, highlighting economic security, social fairness, or other potential benefits. The experiment tested how these framing strategies influenced levels of support for the policy.
Cultural theory and value predispositions
The study draws on cultural theory, which argues that individuals interpret political information through relatively stable value orientations. These orientations reflect underlying beliefs about authority, social organisation, and the relationship between individuals and collective institutions.
Rather than responding only to the immediate content of policy messages, people filter those messages through these deeper value predispositions. Cultural theory therefore provides a framework for explaining why individuals may respond differently to the same policy arguments.
Cultural worldviews and responses to policy framing
The findings show that framing effects are not uniform across the population. Instead, the impact of different frames depends on respondents’ cultural worldviews. Individuals interpret policy messages in ways that are consistent with their existing values, meaning that the same framing can increase support among some groups while having little effect—or even the opposite effect—among others.
These results suggest that cultural predispositions play an important role in shaping public responses to emerging policy proposals. In contexts where partisan cues are weak or absent, these underlying value orientations may be particularly influential in guiding opinion formation.
Taken together, the study contributes to scholarship on policy framing and public opinion by highlighting how cultural theory can help explain variation in policy preferences. It also provides insight into how attitudes toward universal basic income may develop as the policy continues to enter political debate in different national contexts.
You can read the original research in Policy & Politics at
Yen, W., & Liu, L. (2026). How cultural world views moderate policy framing on Universal Basic Income. Policy & Politics (published online ahead of print 2026) from https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2026D000000093
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