How Do Framing Effects Impact Your Political Behavior?

With the Iowa caucus and U.S. Presidential race getting into gear, there is probably no better time to discuss how simple shifts in one’s mindset can have a surprising impact on one’s political attitudes and behaviors.

Welcome to the post on the valence-framing effect.

The Frame Makes a Difference

Social psychology has long known that framing the same question or information in slightly different ways can have a significant impact on your attitudes and behaviors. For example, which hamburger meat would you rather purchase: the one labeled 25 percent fat or 75 percent lean?

Although the actual meat is the same in both cases, the mere framing of it can influence people’s attitudes and choices surrounding it. And, in fact, it does.

When Dr. Irwin Levin and Dr. Gary Gaeth gave participants a sample of hamburger that had either been labeled 25 percent fat or 75 percent lean, those who saw it labeled 75 percent lean rated it as higher quality and less greasy—even though it was the exact same meat in both conditions.

So, when it comes to politics, what kind of framing effects emerge there?

Valence Framing

Let’s imagine you’re trying to decide between two political candidates running for office: Tasha Tallow and Amy Ainsley.

Now, in this election, let’s say you learn Tasha is very qualified for the position, whereas Amy is very unqualified for it. In this case, you would naturally prefer Tasha.

But did you prefer Tasha because you were pro-Tasha? Or did you prefer her because you were anti-Amy? In both cases, the preference is constant (Tasha > Amy); however, the framing of the preference changes.

Valence framing, then, is the psychology behind viewing preference in terms of support for the desired option (e.g., Tasha) or opposition to the undesired one (e.g., Amy). And when researchers first started studying this phenomenon, they found some meaningful differences.

The Valence-Framing Effect

In research conducted by Dr. George Bizer and Dr. Richard Petty, they told participants about a political election that was presumably occurring in a nearby county. And similar to the example with Tasha and Amy, one of these candidates was notably more desirable than the other.

In one study, after participants indicated their preference for the more desirable candidate, the researchers either focused them on (1) their support for the desired candidate or (2) their opposition to the undesirable candidate.

Although all the participants had the same preference (i.e., all participants preferred the desirable candidate to the same degree), they responded very differently to what came next: information that their preferred candidate had been embezzling money.

That is, the researchers wanted to know how differences in valence framing could influence people’s reactions to attacking information. For example, if it became known that Tasha had allegedly been stealing money from the government, would the pro-Tasha voters or the anti-Amy voters be more likely to resist that negative information?

As it turns out, the anti-Amy participants would be more resistant.

In what has been labeled the valence-framing effect, preferences framed in opposition (vs. support) tend to be stronger. That is, not only are people with opposition-based preferences more likely to resist negative information about their preferred choice, but they are also more likely to go out and vote for their preferred candidate, too!

The Theory in Action

In later research, Dr. Bizer and Dr. Petty showed that when people hold preferences based in opposition (vs. support), they are more confident in their preference. And this increased confidence leads to the greater attitude resistance and relevant behaviors discussed above.

When it comes to the political sphere this year, are your preferences based more on support for your desired candidate or opposition to the undesired one? How might this influence your reaction to bad news about your preferred candidate? How might it influence your motivation to go out and vote?

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And to think, all of this influenced by a simple shift in framing.