Framing Effect: Function, Tasks, Role & Diseases

The framing effect refers to a phenomenon of selective perception. In this context, the mode of presentation of stimuli influences how intensively the individual takes in the stimuli. Although framing does not change anything about a transmitted piece of information, it nevertheless changes the perception of the information.

What is the framing effect?

The framing effect is a consequence of the brain‘s natural search for patterns in its environment. The framing effect is a term used in the field of selective perception. This type of perception is a psychological phenomenon that causes individuals to perceive certain aspects of the environment more clearly and to automatically mask or attenuate other aspects of the situation. In addition to framing in the sense of priming, framing in the sense of framing certain stimuli and information is at the heart of selective perception. The human brain constantly searches its environment for patterns that it can embed in pre-existing contexts. The framing effect is also a consequence of the brain‘s natural pattern search. Due to the framing effect, the presentation of certain stimuli, such as objects or topics, has an influence on the assessment of perception. The presentation of certain information thus influences the individual’s stance toward the information itself. For example, a half-full glass may be presented as half-full or half-empty and thus associated by the perceiver with either gain or loss. Although framing does not change anything about the information, it nonetheless changes the way information is judged and perceived because of the framing effect.

Function and task

Human perception is subjective and selective. Although humans are equipped with the same perceptual organs, different stimuli are processed in the central nervous system of two different people in the same situation. In this context, we are talking about so-called filters, which automatically decide on the relevance of situational stimuli and filter out irrelevant stimuli in favor of those found to be relevant. In a conversation, for example, the voice of the communication partner is perceived with emphasis, while ambient sounds such as birdsong are downregulated. Thus, the sum of all situational stimuli is not equal to what the individual consciously perceives in a given situation. The filter effects serve as overload protection for the central nervous system and, in evolutionary biological terms, also contribute to the survival of the human species. Like all other living things, humans act on the basis of their perceptions and the filter effects ensure that they can act optimally. Framing embeds information in a subjective interpretive framework and in this way practically places it in a thinking grid. Framings of the framing effect are usually highly emotional and correlate with the expectations and basic ideas of the individual. A “framed” stimulus automatically enters consciousness sooner than an unframed stimulus. The fact that above all personal expectations and emotions play a role as frames has to do with the basic filters of human perception. Stimuli with an emotional reference to the individual, for example, are thus more likely to be emphasized by perception, since they are more likely to appear as relevant. Analogously, stimuli that fulfill expectations or support previously established opinions are more likely to be perceived. For example, someone reading a newspaper article about spelling is more likely to notice spelling errors in that article. This phenomenon is an example of the framing effect. Framing processes do not take place on a conscious level, but occur subconsciously and automatically. Therefore, the media and advertising often rely on the framing effect to initiate certain courses of action by individuals and to achieve a certain effect with information.

Diseases and ailments

The framing effect also plays a role in communication between physicians and patients. Especially in the context of preventive steps and screenings, physicians often use the framing effect to induce behavioral change in patients. The question whether negative framing shows a higher effect for prevention measures than positive framing is currently under discussion.For example, the physician may emphasize to a patient the benefits of taking preventive measures against a particular disease. Such an approach is positive framing. However, he or she can just as well emphasize the negative effects the patient would have to fear if he or she continued to pursue his or her current lifestyle. Both messages ultimately convey the same information: they inform about the risks of the given disease and call for prevention. However, the mode of presentation ensures that the patient perceives the positively framed information as positive and the negatively framed information as fearful. In the positively framed information pathway, the physician primarily emphasizes the benefits that the patient might derive from preventive measures. In the negatively framed information, the focus is on the possible losses if preventive measures are rejected. The patient has not yet become ill. For this reason, many scientists assume that he is more likely to identify with the positively framed information at this point and for this reason perceives and absorbs it better. Other scientists emphasize that possible loss scenarios are fundamentally more likely to motivate certain characters to act.